Sunday, December 6, 2009

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part XLII): Property crime on the rise

The top story in the December 3, 2009 issue of the Newton County Times is "Thefts reported on increase in area." The lede is:
Local authorities investigating a number of vehicle thefts in Harrison, Carroll County and Newton County, although it wasn't immediately clear they are all related.
The story, however, focuses on a single incident of vehicle theft and sighting of the stolen vehicle in two neighboring counties, Boone (population 36,482) and Carroll (population 27,299). It then notes two other car thefts and a motorcycle theft in neighboring Boone County.

Other crime news includes these stories on the paper's back page:

"Middleton faces federal drug charges." This story is a follow up on earlier reports of Middleton's arrest for drug charges; see blog post here. This report indicates that Middleton has been charged with four felony counts of distributing methamphetamine "after a multi-agency arrest that included a chase with a helicopter" in early November. The story does not make clear why the charges are federal rather than state.

"Hunting violations lead to felony arrests." This story reports that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was investigating "road hunting" in the Shiloh community when he noticed the odor of marijuana on two people he was interviewing. The county sheriff subsequently arrested the men, a father and son aged 47 and 21, for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and numerous game and fish violations.

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