Photo: Brent William Oakley
A legally intoxicated man’s joyride on a backhoe early Monday morning has resulted in a felony charge, along with a pair of misdemeanors.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Mountain Home Police Department (MHPD), 34-year-old Brent W. Oakley faces a Class B felony of theft of property, along with driving while intoxicated and no driver’s license charges.
Authorities were dispatched to a call of someone taking a backhoe from a jobsite at the corner of Second and Hickory streets in Mountain Home. When the responding office arrived on scene, he found no suspect or any sign of the backhoe. While sitting in a nearby parking lot, the officer observed the backhoe return to the site.
The officer drove across the street to the site, and the backhoe driver continued traveling toward the patrol unit, finally stopping and parking the heavy equipment next to the vehicle.
Upon exiting the backhoe, the man — later identified as Oakley — told the officer he didn’t not have permission to operate the backhoe, and it did not belong to him.
A second unit arrived on scene, and Oakley was arrested for theft, with officers noting the smell of intoxicants on the man’s breath. Oakley allegedly admitted he had been drinking and told officers that he “had a spine condition that would prevent him from doing (field sobriety) tests.” When the officers told the man a test was available where he wouldn’t have to stand, Oakley allegedly told the officer not to waste (his) time, saying he was “drunk.”
A breathalyzer test indicated Oakley had a blood alcohol level of .10.
Oakley is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on a $20,000 bond.
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