A Mountain Home man with a long history of running from the law is apparently on the run again.
According to a notice from the Victim Information Network issued just after noon Tuesday, 31-year-old Stephan Richard Whaples has again stopped reporting to his parole officer and is again considered a fugitive.
Whaples has an extensive criminal record and an established habit of fleeing. He was the subject of four manhunts in less than a year during a period in 2011-2012.
The manhunts have involved officers from multiple agencies, roadblocks, tracking dogs and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office helicopter.
Whaples is facing charges in two open criminal cases from 2019 in which he is accused of being a felon in possession of a weapon, possessing drug paraphernalia and fleeing. He is being charged as a habitual offender that could add time to whatever sentence he is given.
The charges are all related to events surrounding a disappearing act he pulled just prior to his current apparent flight.
He was declared a fugitive in late February last year, after he stopped reporting to his parole officer.
A fugitive task force from Arkansas Community Corrections spotted him at a house on Wild Fern Lane south of Norfork June 5 last year. The home was identified as the known address of 55-year-old James Loosey – the initial target of the task force search – and 36-year-old Randi Dodd.
As soon as the officers began to approach the residence, they reported seeing Whaples speed away on an all-terrain vehicle, after spying law enforcement approaching the residence.
He did not surface again until two days later, when a tip led officers to 35-year-old Brandi Withrow’s residence along State Highway 5 South.
One of the officers reported seeing a male standing on the back porch. He is reported to have pulled his shirt up over his head, before retreating into the residence.
Officers went to the front door and were greeted by a young boy. He was asked if his parents were at home and, according to the probable cause affidavit, Withrow came to the door wrapped in a towel. She said she had been getting into the shower, when the officers knocked.
Withrow is reported to have denied Whaples was in the residence and said she had not seen him for some time.
Whaples showed himself, when he made an unsuccessful attempt to escape out a back window of the house. After a short time, officers reported he walked into the kitchen area of the residence, gave up and was taken into custody.
Officers found rifles and drug paraphernalia in the home. Both Whaples and Withrow have been convicted of multiple felonies, making it illegal for them to be around weapons.
Withrow was arrested along with Whaples. She was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and drug paraphernalia, hindering apprehension by providing false information and for violating probation handed down in an earlier case.
In addition, while free on bond pending his trial on those charges, Whaples was again arrested March 8 on new drug charges, after an Arkansas State Police trooper stopped the vehicle Whaples was driving for a minor traffic infraction.
At the time of the stop, Whaples had a waiver on file permitting warrantless searches.
The trooper reported searching the pickup truck, finding a glass smoking pipe with an unidentified residue and a container with an unidentified green residue. In addition, a set of digital scales covered in a substance field testing positive for methamphetamine was found. A syringe was also located.
Whaples did show up in court March 12 on the charges stemming from the early March traffic stop and entered a not guilty plea. At the time he recently failed to report to his parole officer, he was free on a $5,000 bond posted after his arrest in early March.
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