Photo: Jacob Caple
A Lakeview man was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with seven to serve and three suspended during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last week.
It was a fairly long road leading to the courtroom appearance of 27-year-old Jacob Edward Caple. He has had a total of six criminal cases open in Baxter, Fulton and Marion counties through the years. The first charges were filed in 2013 in Marion County and the last in Baxter County in January.
He was sentenced to 10 years probation in Marion County Circuit Court Aug. 27, 2014 for stealing items from the warehouse of the boat manufacturing plant where he worked. The probation handed down in that case was revoked last week, leading to the new prison sentence and wrapping up cases in both Baxter and Marion County.
The charges in the Marion County case were filed in February 2013 and accused Caple of stealing a number of “new-in-the-box” items from Ranger Boats. Investigators found Caple had pawned a large number of depth finders and trolling motors, as well as a marine radio and antenna at a Mountain Home pawnshop. The value of the stolen items was estimated at $13,500, according to court records.
According to investigative records, Caple worked in the parts department at the plant. His job required him to take items from the warehouse to various locations in the factory so workers could install them on boats manufactured by the firm.
At the time the probable cause affidavit was written, a number of the items pawned by Caple had been traced to Ranger’s inventory by comparing serial numbers on pawn tickets with records maintained by the company.
The petition to revoke the probation in the 2013 Marion County case was filed in late January and charged Caple with violating the terms and conditions of his probation by being convicted of other crimes committed in Baxter and Fulton counties.
It is not the first time Caple has been sentenced to prison. He was given 10 years, with seven suspended and three to serve, in 2015. The sentence was handed down after Caple pled guilty to the most serious allegations made against him in any of his other cases.
He and co-defendant, Christian Blake Sisk, were charged with breaking into a man’s home along Old Military Road in the early morning hours of March 21, 2013. According to the probable cause affidavit, Caple and Sisk were said to have pulled the sleeping 18-year-old victim out of his bed, and Sisk was reported to have held him down while Caple beat the teenager.
Photo: Christian Blake Sisk
The victim told officers he recognized his attackers. He was reported to have known Caple for a number of years. Both young men had been on the Mountain Home High School wrestling team at one point, according to court records.
The victim suffered serious injuries as a result of the attack, including what was described as traumatic brain injury.
During various court appearances on charges stemming from the 2013 home invasion, Caple admitted he had become addicted to prescription pain medications. He claims they were first given to him when he left the U.S. Marine Corps on a medical discharge.
He told investigators his use of the drugs made his mind “cloudy.”
While several reasons were given for the attack, there was no single, clear-cut motive established as the case wound its way through the judicial system.
As a result of the home invasion, Sisk was sentenced to 10 years in prison in early May 2013. Caple, who had been through addiction treatment and was a student at the Black River Technical College in Paragould studying to be an electrician, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three to serve and seven suspended on February 18, 2015.
When he pronounced sentence, Circuit Judge Gordon Webb said he appreciated efforts Caple had made to improve his life, but did not feel justice would be served if Caple avoided prison time.
In two Baxter County cases filed this year, Caple was accused of stealing a welder, shotgun and hunting clothes from property along County Road 27. Court records show the state filed petitions in late July asking the court to order Caple to appear and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court in those cases.
The petitions allege Caple violated the terms and conditions of his probation in the Baxter County cases by stealing property in Zwolle, Louisiana, where he was reported to be working. In addition, Caple was given a drug screening in late July that showed positive for amphetamine/methamphetamine, according to the contempt petition.
Caple will be held in the Baxter County jail awaiting transportation to the state prison system.
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