Spa City parolee facing charges over stolen tires

HOT SPRINGS — A parolee already facing theft and drug charges was arrested again Tuesday in the theft of $1,500 worth of tires from a local dealership that was captured on security video.

Johnanthony Ray Putman, 29, was taken into custody shortly before 5:30 p.m. in the 600 block of East Grand Avenue on a felony charge of theft of property over $1,000, punishable by up to six years in prison.

He was later released on a $2,500 bond and is set to appear on March 7 in Garland County District Court.

According to a probable cause affidavit, an employee of Riser Ford, 4201 Central Ave., reported that around 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 an unknown person took 12 tires and eight wheels from the business.

At around 3:30 p.m., surveillance footage captured a white 2000s model Chevy Silverado that pulled up to that part of the building, and a white male got out and placed the tires and wheels in the back of his vehicle and left.

Hot Springs police Detective Matthew Cheatham distributed security still photos of the suspect and his vehicle to other officers throughout the department. Two different officers who identified the suspect as Putman.

Police said officer Austin Morphew had made a traffic stop on Putman earlier that same day driving the same truck seen in the video. Morphew’s bodycam footage from the stop showed Putman was wearing the same clothing as seen in the tire theft video, police said, so a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to court records, Putman was convicted on Dec. 3, 2021, of a felony count of second-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle involving a “road rage” incident and sentenced to six years in prison, but was later paroled. He was arrested in Hot Spring County on Dec. 5, 2022, on a felony theft charge which is pending and was arrested in Garland County on Dec. 28, 2022, on felony drug charges which are also pending.