Photo: Stephan Richard Whaples
A Mountain Home man, with a long history of running from the law, has been sent back to prison on a parole violation and has also picked up new charges alleging he stole ATVs to sell so he could pay fines.
Thirty-one-year-old Stephan Richard Whaples is charged with theft of property, breaking or entering, criminal mischief and being a habitual offender in the newly filed case.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the new case, Whaples is alleged to have taken two of the machines – a Honda Pioneer side-by-side and Suzuki KingQuad. They were both found concealed in the woods and were reported to have been “hot wired.”
Video from game cameras in the area where the Honda had been hidden showed a truck driven by a person identified as Whaples. A female, Ashley Henson, described as Whaples’ girlfriend, was a passenger in the vehicle. Investigators say it is unlikely people would stop and walk around the remote area, unless they had a specific purpose.
Photo: Ashley Henson
Whaples was arrested March 8 on new drug charges after an Arkansas State Police trooper stopped the vehicle he was driving for a minor traffic infraction.
The pickup truck in the March 8 stop was the same one pictured on the game cameras being driven in the area where one of the allegedly stolen ATVs was hidden in the woods.
Henson was also with Whaples when the trooper made the stop
The trooper reported searching the truck and 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.
When Henson was questioned in connection with the ATV thefts, she told investigators she had been with Whaples when he went to the area where the Honda was hidden. She said he wanted to sell the machine to make money to pay fines.
She said she did not know if Whaples had stolen the machines.
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 now facing charges in four open criminal cases — two opened in 2019 and two this year.
Some of the charges stem from events surrounding a disappearing act he pulled just prior to his late February disappearing act.
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.
Photos: James Loosey and 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 officers 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.
Photo: Brandi Withrow
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.
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