James Joseph Fisher

    A Texarkana man, 34 year old JAMES JOSEPH FISHER, has been incarcerated in the Baxter County Detention Center following his arrest Wednesday evening in Miller County, Arkansas on two outstanding felony bench warrants held by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.

     Sheriff’s Investigator Lieutenant Terry Johnson obtained two warrants for the arrest of JAMES JOSEPH FISHER after investigating two separate incidents whereby elderly citizens in Baxter County were scammed for large amounts of cash for minimal services provided.

     The first incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office on November 15, 2013.  A woman reported that she suspected her 90 year old mother, residing on Highway 5 North in Baxter County, had been the victim of a scam and theft.  The complaining party found evidence that her mother had paid $8,750.00 in cash to an unknown person for replacing sensors and for a lightning protection system at her home.  The person provided a receipt from a business called “Robines Lightning Protection”, indicating work had been performed by a man called “John Lee”.  Further investigation, including the examination of bank records going back as far as 2010, indicated that the victim in this case had also paid for worked purportedly performed at her residence by a man using the names of Rusty, Russell, and James, who were later determined to be alias’ of JAMES JOSEPH FISHER.  It was also determined that on the date of the latest incident for which the $8,750.00 in cash had been paid over, no work had been performed at the residence.

     The second incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office on February 24, 2014.  Two witnesses told the Sheriff’s Office on this date that they are neighbors of an 87 year old woman residing on Amberwood Lane and they help watch over her property and her welfare.  On the date in question, they observed a black Chevrolet pickup truck in this woman’s driveway for a period of time.  After the truck left around 5:30 PM, they went to check on the elderly lady and to ask about the truck.  The victim said that two men knocked on her door around 5:00 PM and told her that her roof and chimney needed to be repaired and offered to do the work.  She allowed them to come inside the home to check for damage and make repairs.  A short time later, one of the men stated the repairs have been completed and the cost would be $6,200.00.  The victim gave the men a check in the amount of $6,200.00 on her personal account.  A receipt was provided by one of the men, who identified himself as Mr. James Fisher, but the receipt did not have an amount written on it.  Later inspection revealed that little or no work had been performed for this money.

     The check was later cashed at the First Security Bank branch inside the Walmart Supercenter in Mountain Home before a stop payment order could be placed.  Identification from the man who cashed the check was obtained and recorded by bank employees.  This man who cashed this check was JAMES JOSEPH FISHER of Texarkana, Arkansas.

     Lieutenant Johnson obtained two bench warrants for the arrest of JAMES JOSPEH FISHER, which were issued on March 4^th.  The Miller County Sheriff’s Office in Texarkana, Arkansas was then contacted and asked to attempt to locate JAMES JOSEPH FISHER in their jurisdiction and take him into custody. 

     On the evening of March 5^th, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery was notified by the Miller County Sheriff’s Office that they had located JAMES JOSEPH FISHER and had taken him into custody on the Baxter County warrants.  He was taken to the Miller County Detention Center to be held awaiting transport to Baxter County.

     Today, a Baxter County deputy went to Texarkana and picked up JAMES JOSEPH FISHER.  He was incarcerated in the Baxter County Detention Center this evening at approximately 10:00 PM on charges of:

Theft of Property (2 counts) – Class C Felonies

     FISHER is being held in lieu of $50,000.00 bond, and he will make an appearance in the Baxter County Circuit Court on March 13^th  to answer the charges.

     The Sheriff’s Office will be seeking to ascertain the identity of the man who was with FISHER during the second incident.

     We wish to thank Miller County Sheriff Ron Stovall and his deputies for their assistance in apprehending JAMES JOSEPH FISHER and helping to bring him to justice.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff