Hot Springs man arrested in connection with stolen trailer
A local man was arrested Tuesday on a felony theft charge in connection with a stolen trailer he allegedly bought earlier this year knowing it was stolen.
William Thomas “Tom” Harris III, 54, of 374 Lakeland Drive, was taken into custody at his residence around
12:30 p.m. and charged with theft by receiving, punishable by up to six years in prison. He was later released on $2,500 bond, and is set to appear May 2 in Garland
County District Court.
According to the affidavit, a local man reported a “Performance” brand enclosed trailer, valued at $2,000, stolen from a storage facility on Files Road on Feb. 20. On Friday, he called Garland County sheriff’s investigators to report that he thought he had found his trailer under a carport in the 300 block of Lakeland Drive. He noted a white pickup parked at the property also matched one seen in a security video pulling the stolen trailer away from his property.
Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Huckaba and Cpl. Jeremy Simpson went to the Lakeland residence and made contact with the property owner, identified as Harris, who stated his employee,
50, had picked up the trailer for him. He said he had a trailer stolen from him previously and he got his employee to go buy it back from a “Hispanic guy” who had it.
Harris consented to let the deputies search his property and they located the trailer, which matched the one reported stolen, including having a baby bed in the back as described by the owner. With Harris’ permission, the victim came to the scene and confirmed it was his trailer and Harris let him take it back.
Later that day, investigators interviewed Harris’ employee, who reportedly stated Harris had a trailer stolen earlier in the year by Harris’ girlfriend who allegedly sold it to her drug dealer. Harris contacted the man, who was Hispanic, and he reportedly agreed to sell the trailer to Harris for $100.
The employee said Harris told him to retrieve the trailer and gave him the title to a 1998 homemade trailer to take with him. He said he met with the Hispanic man at Wal-Mart, 4019 Central Ave., around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 20. He said the man told him the trailer was at the U-Store-It on Files Road and gave him a key to the trailer hitch lock in exchange for the $100.
The employee said he went to the storage facility around 10 p.m. that same day, found the trailer where he was told it would be and used the key to unlock the trailer hitch. He said he noticed the trailer did not match what was on the title and “did not look like any trailer he had known Harris to own.”
He said he called Harris and told him the trailer he was paying for was not his, but he said Harris told him to take the trailer anyway and bring it to his residence so Harris could use it as “leverage” against the Hispanic man. He said he put the trailer under a carport at Harris’ residence as instructed.
Based on the employee’s statement, Huckaba obtained a warrant for Harris on the theft by receiving charge.