Billy Coram II (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A man charged with stealing a new $24,000 UTV from a dealer in Mountain Home and wrecking it appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Billy Coram II, who has listed a Jonesboro address on court documents, appeared for a restitution hearing related to damage done to the stolen UTV.
Prior to the hearing, it was announced that the parties involved had reached an agreement requiring Coram to pay $12,000 in restitution for damage done to the stolen UTV.
Just before Christmas 2023, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an accident involving a black Can-Am Maverick along U.S. Highway 62 West.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the scene and found the unit over on its side with damage to the entre passenger’s side of the unit.
The deputies reported that the exhaust and motor were both hot indicating the accident had only recently occurred.
A debit card with Coram’s name was located in the UTV.
Investigators noted the vehicle appeared to be brand new, and they contacted Next Level Motorsports, a Can Am dealer, to see if they had a unit missing from their lot.
The staff at Next Level Sports did a quick inventory and discovered that a black Can-Am Maverick had been taken from their lot.
Video tape from the security cameras at a convenience store showed a male matching Coram’s description purchasing fuel and putting it in a red two-gallon gas can similar to the one found at the scene of the wreck.
A female called the sheriff’s office on Dec. 15, 2023, and reported she had been approached at her residence along Finch Drive by a man she believed might have been involved in the UTV theft.
She said the man approached her and pleaded with her “not to call the cops.” He said he had been involved “in a four-wheeler accident.” The man was reported to have told the woman repeatedly that he would not hurt her.
He asked her if he could use her phone to call someone to pick him up. She refused that request but did agree to make the call herself.
She said a man had answered the phone at the number Coram furnished and said he would pick Coram up at Big Creek Country Club.
The woman told investigators she had last seen Coram walking away to meet his ride at the golf course.
Coram was eventually arrested. During a court session last year, he pled guilty to charges of theft of property and criminal mischief and was sentenced to six years in prison, with three to serve and three suspended.
On March 31, the Arkansas Parole Board denied parole for Coram for two years. The hearing had been held March 24.
FEDERAL LAWSUIT
Coram has also filed a federal lawsuit against a former Jonesboro policeman alleging excess force.
He filed his lawsuit against former policeman Joseph Harris, the City of Jonesboro and Police Chief Rick Elliott Sept. 24.
Coram alleges that he was beaten by Harris on Aug. 8 while he was in the back of a patrol car handcuffed “and utterly defenseless.”
The incident leading to the alleged beating began when a vehicle in which Coram was a passenger was pulled over by Craighead County sheriff’s deputies.
The lawsuit claims Coram panicked at the sight of the lawmen and swallowed a bag of Fentanyl that was inside the vehicle.
He is reported to have told the deputies what he had done and to have said he feared the potential ill effects of his act.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug used for pain relief and as an anesthetic. Fentanyl is said to be 100 times for potent than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The deputies took him to a hospital where he received emergency treatment. While at the facility, the lawsuit alleges Coram again panicked and ran out of the facility.
It is not the first time Coram is reported to have claimed he has ingested drugs, been taken to a hospital for treatment and taken off. A similar incident took place in Mississippi in mid-July.
When Coram was apprehended after leaving the Jonesboro hospital, he was placed in Harris’ custody to be taken to the Craighead County Jail.
While riding in Harris’ patrol car, Coram was reported to be handcuffed, wearing a hospital gown and without shoes.
During the trip, Coram is alleged to have had what was described as a “severe panic attack” and was convinced doctors at the hospital had failed to locate the Fentanyl and that if the drug flooded into his system, he would die.
At one point, Coram was said to have become so desperate that he looked up at the camera that showed the backseat of the patrol car and “pleaded for help” from anyone who might be “listening to or monitoring the feed.”
Coram also attempted to dislodge what he believed was the small bag containing the Fentynal he had swallowed by wrapping a seatbelt around his neck in an effort to gag himself.
When Harris saw what Coram was doing, he stopped his patrol car, opened the back door and began to “violently” assault the detainee.
In the lawsuit, it is alleged that Harris punched and delivered elbow strikes to Coram’s head.
During the altercation, Harris was reported to have slammed one of the rear doors of his patrol car on Coram’s head, knocking him out.
The entire incident was filmed by a video camera installed in the police car. In the lawsuit, it alleges the officer “did not feel constrained from using grossly excessive force on Coram even though the camera was running … because of his perception that the use of excessive force would be “ignored, tolerated and/or not appropriately disciplined.”
Because of his confidence that the incident would be “swept under the rug,” Harris is alleged to have lied about the encounter even though the events were on videotape, according to the lawsuit.
City officials knew or should have known that Harris, who was alleged not to have been properly trained in police work, “had an established and well-known employment history of using excessive force, engaging in deceptive practices and threatening law abiding citizens,” the lawsuit claims.
Several incidents are laid out in the lawsuit in which it is alleged “excessive force” was used by Harris.
Despite the initial incident, Harris was promoted to K-9 handler.
The lawsuit alleges that at another time Harris used excessive force, he had turned off his body camera. However, the event was recorded by another officer’s camera and by a friend of the victim.
The friend posted the video online and after it went “viral,” Chief Elliott made a statement expressing “concern” about the excessive force incident.
The lawsuit alleges Chief Elliott’s statement was made necessary when the victim’s friend posted the video he had taken of the incident.
The fellow officer with Harris the night of the incident had an active bodycam but, according to the lawsuit, did not report the event to superiors or make the videotape available.
The city is included in the suit because of “the existence of a continuing widespread, persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct by the governmental entity’s employees.”
The suit seeks, “a judgement against the defendants in an amount which will fully and fairly compensate Coram for the damages suffered.”
According to federal court records, a six day trial is set to begin on May 11, 2026, in Little Rock.
BEATEN UP IN JAIL
Coram was also reported to have been beaten up by three of his fellow inmates in the Craighead County Jail. The three are charged with aggravated assault, and bond was set at $50,000 cash only.
THEFT CHARGES ALSO AWAIT IN MISSISSIPPI
Coram was also allegedly involved in burglarizing a city-owned building and motor sports dealership in Pearl, Miss.
The city of almost 30,000 is located across the Pearl River from Jackson, the state capital.
Coram and a man who listed an address in Provo, Utah, were accused of stealing ATVs, UTVs and tools from the two locations.
Both men were arrested the day after the burglary at a safety checkpoint. They were taken to a hospital after claiming had ingested narcotics.
They escaped from the hospital. The Utah man was picked up shortly after the escape. Coram was not arrested until he was picked up in Jonesboro.
According to the Pearl Police Department, Coram will be extradited from Arkansas at some point and charged with the thefts in Mississippi.
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