Photo: Dalton Beckman
A Mountain Home teen is accused of stealing a side-by-side vehicle from a Gassville residence and driving it on public roads. Eighteen-year-old Dalton Beckman is in the Baxter County Detention Center, after being stopped by a Mountain Home officer last Saturday night.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a male residing on Arkansas Highway 126 contacted the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office last Saturday morning claiming a golf cart was abandoned at his residence, but his side-by-side was missing. The victim stated the vehicle, valued at $5,000, was stolen either last Saturday morning or the prior evening. The golf cart was reportedly discovered to be taken from the Cotter Trout Lodge. Its windshield was removed or broken, and the ignition switch was damaged.
A Mountain Home officer was on patrol at the intersection of McClure Lane and East Ninth Street when he observed a side-by-side vehicle approach him from behind just after 9:30 last Saturday evening. The officer says the driver, later identified as Beckman, noticed the patrol vehicle, turned into the yard of a residence, shut the headlights off and drove behind the residence. The vehicle then traveled through a gravel parking lot with the lights still off. The officer says it matched the description of the side-by-side reported stolen.
The officer stopped next to the vehicle and was already aware Beckman did not have a driver’s license from previous law enforcement contacts. Beckman reportedly told the officer a friend dropped off the vehicle two days earlier at a Mountain Home apartment complex. He claimed he only knew the friend a short time through social media. Dispatch confirmed the side-by-side was stolen, after a check of the vehicle identification number, and an Arkansas Crime Information Center inquiry confirmed Beckman’s license was suspended. He was taken into custody, and he and his two passengers were transported to the Mountain Home Police Department.
In an interview, the female passenger stated a side-by-side with two individuals in the cab pulled up at her apartment last Saturday between midnight at 1 a.m. She stated Beckman exited the driver’s seat and stated he and the other individual, not identified in the affidavit, walked to Cotter where his father gave him the vehicle. She said she entered the vehicle last Saturday evening, and Beckman drove to the male passenger’s residence and picked him up shortly before they were stopped.
The male passenger was later interviewed and corroborated the female’s statement. He also says Beckman told him he received the vehicle from his father in Cotter.
Beckman is charged with theft of property, driving on a suspended license and driving an ATV on a public highway. His bond is set at $7,690.
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