Motel raid nabs tracked parolee

Affidavit says convicted felon facing charges over theft of safes from home

HOT SPRINGS — A felon on parole whose movements were reportedly followed using a tracking device on his vehicle was arrested Tuesday on a number of felony charges after a raid on his motel room by Garland County sheriff’s investigators.

Justin Raymond Taylor, 30, who lists a Turtle Creek Road address in Hot Springs, was taken into custody at the Red Carpet Inn, 1870 E. Grand Ave., shortly before 5 p.m. He is charged with residential burglary, possession of meth with purpose to deliver and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime, theft by receiving over $5,000,and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Taylor also was charged with misdemeanor counts of theft of property under $1,000 and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to court records, Taylor was convicted of felony counts of commercial burglary, two counts of theft of property, two counts of breaking or entering, theft by receiving, first-degree criminal mischief, and various felony drug charges July 29, 2019, in Garland County Circuit Court and sentenced to six years in prison, but was later paroled.

According to the probable-cause affidavits, sheriff’s investigators obtained a search warrant Feb. 22 that allowed a tracking device to be placed on Taylor’s black 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe.

On March 16, a woman filed a burglary report with Hot Springs police shortly before 7:30 a.m. that said someone broke into her residence on Park Avenue, damaging three windows and a back door to make entry, and stole two safes containing several mint coin sets.

That same day, the tracking device reportedly showed the Tahoe arriving at the woman’s address around 7 a.m., where it stayed for 13 minutes, according to an affidavit. It then traveled to a wooded area in the 400 block of Belvedere Drive where it remained for about four hours, leaving shortly after 11 a.m.

Around 10:30 a.m. that same day, sheriff’s investigators Charlie Mowery and Don Yoak spoke to the woman who described the two safes that had been taken and noted that whoever broke in had destroyed the security system after setting it off.

The investigators then drove to the wooded area on Belvedere where the tracking device indicated the Tahoe had traveled and spotted the vehicle with Taylor driving it with an unidentified passenger, according to an affidavit.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m., the investigators returned to the same wooded area where they found two small safes that fit the description of the ones stolen earlier and found items in the safe with the victim’s name on them, an affidavit said.

Arrest warrants were later issued for Taylor, and around 4 p.m. Tuesday sheriff’s investigators executed the warrant at the motel where they took Taylor into custody and saw several stolen items in plain view in the room, according to an affidavit.

After obtaining a search warrant for the room, police found a glasses case on the nightstand that contained a plastic bag with what later tested positive for meth, an affidavit said. In a drawer, they found another bag of meth. Searching further they found two smoking devices and $890 in cash, the affidavit said.

The meth found totaled 5.95 grams, which was turned over to investigators with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force, who filed additional charges against Taylor.