UPDATE:  09/30/2016 at 2:45 PM:

Since the original release this morning, a number of persons came forward to contact the Sheriff's Office to lay claim to some of the items that had been found at the second-hand store in Gassville.  Since then, Investigators have also found additional items that are believed to have been stolen, and new photographs of those items are shown above.  Please contact Sgt. Brad Hurst of the Criminal Investigation Division if you believe any of these items are your property.

ORIGINAL RELEASE BELOW:

Sheriff’s Investigators have arrested a 24 year old Mountain Home man, MICHAEL RANSOM HOBBS, on charges related to the theft of several lawn ornaments at various locations in Baxter County.

     On September 26, a person residing on Westmorland Lane in Mountain Home came to the Sheriff’s Office to report the theft of two concrete lawn ornaments valued at $800.  After making this report, the owners of those items were driving through Gassville when they noticed lawn ornaments that looked like theirs in front of a second hand store.  They went back to the store to have a closer look, and they were able to identify the items as belonging to them from some paint that had been applied.  The store proprietor indicated he had purchased the ornaments from MICHAEL HOBBS.  The victims reported this information to the Sheriff’s Office.

     Investigators spoke to the proprietor of the second hand store, and he stated that he had also bought several other items from MICHAEL HOBBS over a four month period of time.  Investigators took photographs of those items and compared them with previous theft reports.  Matches were made with prior theft reports from addresses on Buzzard Roost Road, Baxter CR 457, and West Road.  The collective value of items reported stolen from these locations was approximately $1,800. 

     Several other items sold to the store by MiCHAEL HOBBS have yet to be matched to either reported thefts, or they may not have been reported stolen by the owners.  Photographs of the outstanding items sold to the store by HOBBS are shown above.  Anyone who believes they are the true owners of these items should contact Sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Hurst at the Criminal Investigation Division.

     MICHAEL HOBBS was arrested on September 28th and incarcerated in the Detention Center on charges of:

Theft of Property (1 combined count) – Felony
Criminal Trespass (4 counts) – Misdemeanor

     He was released from custody after posting $10,000 bond, and he will appear in the Circuit Court to answer on October 6th.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff