Suspect arrested, accused of vandalizing local Welcome Center,
A Magnolia, Ark., man has been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Arkansas Welcome Center on U.S. Highway 71 in Miller County, Ark.
Dustin Wade Otwell, 36, was arrested Thursday on a felony warrant for criminal mischief, said Capt. Mark Lewis, chief deputy of Miller County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges are pending, Lewis said.
On April 30, Deputy Jeremy Cornett was sent to the welcome center on U.S. 71 North in Miller County about vandalism to plumbing, sewer, electronics and landscaping. The person who reported it said the damage was done in the early morning hours.
Miller County Investigator Sam McJunkins began reviewing the welcome center’s surveillance video, which captured a red Chevrolet pickup and two unidentified men. No license plate number was available from the video, and McJunkins issued an agency-wide inquiry about the truck.
Cpl. Phillip Hardeman and Deputy Byron Bryant told the investigator that they had encountered the truck April 1 at a church on U.S. Highway 82 in Miller County and gave him the vehicle’s license plate number.
After coordinating with the Magnolia, Ark., Police Department, McJunkins was able to positively identify the pickup’s driver on the surveillance video as Otwell.
Otwell was moved to Miller County Detention Center, where he is being held on the felony charge.