Vincent Hatfield

Andrew Strevels

     Two Cotter men were arrested Wednesday afternoon, October 28th, on charges related to the theft of a firearm after an investigation into an incident that was reported to the Sheriff’s Office on October 23rd.

     On that date, Sheriff’s Corporal Robert Recktenwald responded to a call on Old Tracy Road in Mountain Home and met with the owner of the home and two other people residing there.

     The complaint made was that two men, one who is a convicted felon, had been inside the home with a handgun and had made threats against the occupants of the home.  These men were identified as VINCENT HATFIELD and ANDREW STREVELS.

     HATFIELD allegedly demanded a rifle be given to him in exchange for not causing physical harm to one of the occupants.  Under duress and coercion, a Remington model 770 in .243 caliber rifle was given to HATFIELD by the victim.

     Sheriff’s Investigator Sgt. Brad Hurst was assigned to follow up on the complaint.  He found that HATFIED had pawned two firearms at a local pawn shop, but not the particular rifle in question.

     On October 28th, Sheriff’s Investigators and the Cotter Police Chief went to a residence at 433 South Street in Cotter to attempt to locate HATFIELD and STREVELS.  Both suspects were contacted, and the rifle was ultimately recovered at that residence. HATFIELD and STREVELS were subsequently arrested and transported to the Detention Center.

     VINCENT HATFIELD, 29 years of age, was booked on charges of:

Possession of Firearm by Certain Persons – convicted felon (3 counts) – Felonies
Theft of Property – Felony

     He is being held in lieu of $20,000 bond and will appear in Circuit Court on November 12th.

     ANDREW STREVELS, 19 years of age, was booked on a single charge of:

Theft of Property – Felony

     He is being held in lieu of $7,500 bond and will also appear in Circuit Court on November 12th.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff