A man claiming to be homeless was arrested after being caught sleeping in a building in early July has now been declared a fugitive.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gaberial McCasland of Mountain Home was scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court recently, but failed to show and an arrest warrant was ordered.
He is charged with criminal trespass, possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia to ingest the drug.
A Mountain Home Police officer was called to a health care business along U.S. Highway 62 East by a female employee who wanted an escort to her vehicle.
She reported being concerned because a suspicious truck had been driving around the parking lot and a man unknown to the woman had also been seen.
The officer reported looking for a hole in the fence where someone might have gained access to the property. He did find a section of the enclosure on the ground.
He said as he began to search one of the structures on the property, he walked up some stairs found a man later identified as McCasland asleep.
The officer shined a flashlight on the man and he woke up. It was at this point, McCasland told the officer he was homeless and had only been looking for a place to sleep.
McCasland was reminded that he was trespassing on private property and that he had apparently crossed a fence to gain entry to the building in which he was taking shelter.
McCasland is reported to have admitted to the officer he did have drugs in his belongings. A Cigarillo package was found to contain a white crystalline substance believe to be methamphetamine.
A clear glass pipe used to smoke the drug was also found.
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