A man who stole a car, used a credit card left in the vehicle and attempted to extort money from the vehicle’s owner to have it returned appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday and pled guilty to the charges against him.Thirty-seven-year-old Michael Curtis Clements was sentenced to six years-probation. The charges initially brought against him included theft of property, breaking or entering, fraudulent use of a credit card and criminal mischief.Cements is currently in a rehab program and will remain enrolled for almost a year.
On March 10 last year, Clements had approached an employee of a Gassville grocery store and asked for a ride but the employee was not able to provide the transportation because his shift was about to start.
Within a short time after Clements made the request, he was reported to have taken a vehicle two door down from the grocery that had been left in a driveway running to warm up.
He is also alleged to have used a credit card that had been left in the vehicle.
Three days later, police received a tip from a Flippin resident that the stolen car was parked in a driveway at a residence there.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Clements had reportedly attempted to extort money from the vehicle’s owner to return it.
When Flippin police went to the location that had been provided, they found Clements in possession of the stolen vehicle.
The report also noted that when police contacted Clements “he, as usual, pulled the fake seizure routine” and was checked out at Baxter Health.
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