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The newest arrest for 28-year-old Steven Gauger of Mountain Home stemmed from a “suspicious person” call to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office from an address along County Road 467 in January
The caller reported a man in a silver colored van came to his residence “acting strange,” and the caller provided the van’s license plate number.
A deputy sheriff responded to the initial call and, while he was still in the area, received another call of a person in a silver colored van at an address along County Road 37. The resident told the deputy a man had come to his residence trying to sell firewood. The homeowner said he declined, and the person left.
The victim went inside the house for a short time and, when he returned outside, he saw two chainsaws were missing from his front porch. The saws have an estimated value of almost $700, according to the probable cause affidavit.
When a check of the license plate was made, it was reported registered to a member of Gauger’ family. A photo of Gauger was shown to the two people who had made the suspicious persons reports, and they both identified him as the man they had encountered.
A deputy went to Gauger’ known residence along Maple Leaf Trail where he is reported to live in a camper trailer parked on property owned by another individual.
The deputy located Gauger and the silver colored van at the camper trailer. Gauger was questioned about several recent thefts in the area, including the two chainsaws that were missing from the front porch of one of the suspicious persons callers. He claimed not to know anything about the saws.
But, Gauger’s story began to unravel when the deputy saw a canoe and a flat-bottomed boat on the property matching the description of items reported stolen from an address along County Road 36.
When Gauger was asked about the watercraft, he said he needed to speak to his attorney.
The victim of the canoe and flat-bottomed boat theft told investigators his family’s home had recently been lost to fire, and he had been going to the site to retrieve property. During those trips, he had discovered the canoe, flat-bottomed boat, tools and other items missing from the yard of the burned-out home and two storage sheds located on the property.
A man described as a “known associate” of Gauger’s, 34-year-old Joshua Carson, has also been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting Gauger in the thefts. He also appeared in circuit court last Thursday wearing the white uniform of the state prison system. He is an inmate in the Ouachita River Corrections Unit in Malvern on an earlier conviction from another county. Carson told Judge John Putman he was attempting to hire a private attorney.
Photo: Joshua Carson
Gauger also has another criminal case open stemming from a fight he had with another male in late June last year.
In the battery case, witnesses said Gauger walked into the victim’s residence and refused to leave. Gauger was said to have started arguing with the victim, and the argument turned physical.
Gauger had fled when Mountain Home Police officers arrived. He was located a short time later in some heavy vegetation near the residence where the incident took place and placed in custody.
Gauger is an inmate in the Baxter County jail, with bond set at $25,000 cash.
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