Brandon Elmo Massey   

     BRANDON ELMO MASSEY, 24 years old of Mountain View, Arkansas, was arrested today on charged related to the burglary of the First Baptist Church in Big Flat that occurred between December 11^th and December 14^th. 

     During the burglary, a small safe containing a large amount of change, a check book, and miscellaneous documents were stolen.  On December 20^th, the complaining party brought copies of cancelled checks that had been written from the stolen check book.  As of today, approximately forty-five checks have been written on the church’s account totaling $2,995.28.  These checks were written and passed in several counties in North Arkansas.  In Baxter County, checks were written to the Junction Liquor Store in Big Flat on December 12^th for $40.00 and on the same date to Charlie’s Place in Big Flat for $45.00.  On December 14^th, a check was written to College Station Deli in Mountain Home for $65.00, and on the same date a check was written to Blanchard Liquor in Big Flat for $45.00.  On December 16^th, yet another check was written to Auto Zone in Mountain Home for $45.28. 

     BRANDON MASSEY was arrested in Bee Branch, Arkansas when trying to pass one of the stolen checks.  While he was being interviewed by authorities in Van Buren County, MASSEY admitted writing all of the checks that had been forged and cashed but denied having broken into the church, alleging that someone else had done so. 

     MASSEY was incarcerated today in the Baxter County Detention Center on Baxter County charges of:

     Forgery in the Second Degree (5 counts) – Felonies

     Theft of Property (5 counts) – Misdemeanors

     He is being held in detention in lieu of $12,500 bond and will appear in Circuit Court on February 16^th. 

     /s/ John F. Montgomery

    Baxter County Sheriff