A 24 year old Yellville, Arkansas man, JOSEPH J. DUTCHER-AFFRONTI, was incarcerated in the Baxter County Detention Center this afternoon for felony charges related to a complaint made to the Sheriff’s Office on July 31^st.

     It was reported that a .22 caliber bolt action rifle had been stolen from the residence at 99 CR 709.  The victim discovered the rifle was missing approximately one week ago.  The victim indicated that DUTCHER-AFFRONTI had access to the residence. 

     The victim stated he went to a pawn shop in Flippin asking if DUTCHER-AFFRONTI had attempted to pawn a .22 caliber rifle there.  The pawn shop referred the victim to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, as apparently Marion County had information about it and had DUTCHER-AFFRONTI either detained or in custody.

     According to the report, DUTCHER-AFFRONTI admitted to stealing the firearm from the victim’s residence.  The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database was also checked, which indicated that DUTCHER-AFFRONTI was a convicted felon since 2007 and therefore ineligible to possess a firearm.

     JOSEPH J. DUTCHER-AFFRONTI is now in the Baxter County Detention Center charged by Sheriff's Investigator Lt. Terry Johnson with:

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

     He has a bond of $10,000, and he is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court on August 9^th.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff