A 66-year-old Mountain Home man charged last year with attempting to break into a building and vehicles on a used car lot has been arrested again and charged in a vehicle theft case.
Ben David Johnson made an appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday and pled not guilty to his new theft of property charges.
Johnson was first arrested in mid-April last year when a Mountain Home police officer responded to a report of a male involved in suspicious activity at a used car lot located along U.S. Highway 62 East at Langston Drive.
His new charges stemmed from the theft of a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer from a residence along Willow Lane. The victim told police the theft had occurred during the overnight hours of October 23-24.
The victim’s father saw the stolen vehicle parked at Johnson’s residence along North Cardinal Drive and reported it to police.
The victim and his father joined police at the scene and inspected the vehicle. They found that keys, a pair of eyeglasses, a jar containing coins and a blanket were missing from the vehicle.
A cellphone was found in the vehicle that was tied to Johnson by checking incoming messages. Another cellphone that was suspected of belonging to Johnson was found in the victim’s driveway where the missing vehicle had been parked.
After a search warrant was served on the North Cardinal Drive address, police found Johnson in the bathroom. They also located a key fob to the victim’s vehicle in Johnson’s left jacket pocket. The missing blanket and change jar were recovered outside Johnson’s residence.
Missing keys to the victim’s home and prescription eyeglasses were not found.
KEEPING APPOINTMENTS A PROBLEM
Since being arrested on his first set of charges last year, Johnson is said to have missed a number of appointments set up for him to have a psychological examination. A number of letters have been set to the court by the Department of Human Services – Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (OSAMH) to provide dates for the exam, then to reschedule because Johnson did not show up even though he was informed of the appointments.
On September 12, OSAMH sent a letter to the court saying because Johnson had missed multiple scheduled appointments, no additional appointments would be made until instructed otherwise by the court.
At an earlier court session, Circuit Judge John Putman said the next time an exam was scheduled, he wanted Johnson picked up two days prior to the exam date and held until his examination was completed.
Johnson was picked up on the new charges and is currently an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center.
APRIL 2024 CHARGES
When a Mountain Home police officer arrived on scene to investigate the suspicious person report at the used car lot on April 19, 2024, Johnson was located walking away from the property. When asked what he was doing, Johnson is alleged to have replied that he had been told he could get things from local businesses.
When Johnson had initially been confronted at the business, he is reported to have yelled that he was being assaulted and began to walk away.
Johnson was reported to have been carrying a black flashlight taken from a vehicle on the lot. The owner’s manual for a Ford Explorer was found in the backpack Johnson was carrying.
The investigation also showed that Johnson had allegedly attempted to enter an office/storage building on the property.
A prybar was found next to a side window where the owner had first confronted Johnson. Since he had been interrupted, Johnson was reported not to have gained entry but had started to pry the outside screen off.
The owner said he had been having an ongoing problem with Johnson coming onto the property. It is alleged that Johnson had once taken a truck from the lot but returned it and no charges were filed, but Johnson was trespassed from the property at the time of the truck theft.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI