Tyler Steven Dudley, one of two people facing more than 160 counts of wrongdoing in criminal cases opened against them in Baxter and Marion Counties, appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
The charges against the 28-year-old Dudley of Flippin and 31-year-old Whitney Nicole Townsend of Yellville include breaking or entering, theft of property, forgery, commercial burglary, simultaneously possessing guns and drugs, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and residential burglary.
The simultaneous possession charge is a Class Y felony, the most serious classification of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death. A defendant can face life in prison if convicted of a Class Y felony.
The simultaneous possession charge stemmed from the search of a car belonging to Townsend on February 10 during which several items were found, including methamphetamine and a .22 caliber handgun.
Dudley has entered not guilty pleas in his cases and told Circuit Judge John Putman Monday he planned to hire a private attorney to represent him.
According to the probable cause affidavit in a Marion County case, Dudley was alleged to have been seen driving a vehicle along Broadway Street in Yellville.
The car would drive up to a mailbox and a person, now suspected of being Townsend, would reach into the mailbox and remove the contents.
The mail thefts also led to stealing blank checks and debit/credit cards.
During one of their arrests, they were found to have an air compressor that had been reported stolen from a residence in Yellville.
They are also accused of stealing checks from a business located in rural Mountain Home. Investigators report one check was made out to Townsend for $395 and another for $400 to Dudley. The checks were noted as being proceeds from the sale of metal to be recycled.
Both of those checks were cashed by the same Mountain Home bank.
According to court records, the crimes allegedly committed by the duo of Dudley and Townsend took place in a short span of time in 2022 and continuing into the early months of this year.
Another man, Dustin Sandoval who lists an address along State Highway 201 South, is also in trouble for allegedly trying to cash a $3,000 check that he told investigators was provided to him by Dudley and Townsend.
He said Townsend made the check out and he had driven to a branch bank in Gassville to try and cash it. A bank employee became suspicious and would not complete the transaction.
The check turned out to have been stolen.
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