July 24, 2013

On 5-31-2013 the Baxter County Sheriff's Office received a complaint from a man on Promise Land Road stating his home had been entered and property was missing.  The victim stated he discovered the back door of his home had been breached and a High Standard .22 cal. Pistol a Hewlett Packard laptop computer had been taken.

It was discovered from Leads on Line that the laptop computer had been pawned in Springfield, MO. on 5-31-2013 by John Taylor Ratliff, the grandson of the victim.

On 6-2-2013 the suspect, John Taylor Ratliff was taken into custody after he was stopped by Rogers County Oklahoma Deputies, driving a stolen vehicle from Ozark County Missouri.  During his arrest Ratliff attempted to pull a pistol from his waistband during a struggle with the Deputies who were attempting to take him into custody. It was discovered the weapon Ratliff had was the same pistol that was stolen in the Burglary on Promise Land Road.

John Taylor Ratliff, age 23 of Midway, Arkansas was extradited from Oklahoma and has been charged with:

5-39-201        Residential Burglary                        Class B Felony
5-36-103        Theft of Property                             Class A Misdemeanor
5-36-103        Theft of Property - Firearm            Class D Felony
5-73-103        Felon in Possession of a Firearm   Class B Felony    

Ratliff is currently being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on bond of $15,000 pending his appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court on July 25, 2013 at 9 am.

Sheriff John Montgomery