Photo: Benjamin J. Lynch
Marion County authorities have arrested a man whose parents say stole their vehicle after being allowed to stay with them while recovering from a gunshot wound.
The man would later be found at what was reported as a motor vehicle accident on Chestnut Expressway in Springfield. Instead, police found 39-year-old Benjamin J. Lynch unconscious in the driver’s seat of the reported stolen vehicle with the engine running. Lynch, whose online jail record indicates is from Mountain Home, denied he had been in an accident.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Thursday, Lynch is charged with a felony count of theft of property.
The charge stems from an incident in late October when Lynch’s parents contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to report their stolen vehicle.
The couple reported Lynch and his wife arrived at their residence along Promise Land Road “begging to stay for a couple of days” while their son recovered from a recent gunshot wound to his right arm. No details on the gunshot incident are provided.
Four days later when Lynch’s father went outside for a newspaper, he immediately noticed his wife’s vehicle missing. A search of Lynch’s room revealed the couple and their belongings gone.
The father told law enforcement “there is no way” he and his wife would give their son permission to take or drive the missing car “due to a heroin addiction” Lynch and his wife have.
Six days later Lynch was discovered in Springfield, with police resources indicating he had an active warrant out of Christian County.
He was transported to a Springfield hospital before being taken into custody.
His Marion County bond was set at $10,000.
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