Photo: Mason Nixon
A Van Buren County man has been arrested and charged with felony residential burglary following an incident in which he allegedly removed a post, chain and lock to illegally gain entry to property in Searcy County. Sheriff Kenny Cassell says 24-year-old Mason Dylan Nixon of Shirley has since been transported to the Arkansas Department of Correction, after his probation was revoked from a sentencing handed down last August.
According to the probable cause affidavit, law enforcement responded to a reported break-in at a residence along Red Bluff Road in Marshall on April 21.
The property owner said his neighbor had advised him of a car going through the locked gate on the victim’s property. He also advised the deputy of the break-in to gain access to a driveway leading to a cabin on the property.
The property owner said when he arrived at the cabin, he found a male, later identified as Nixon, coming out of the dwelling.
He said, with his handgun drawn, he approached Nixon and asked what he was doing on his property. Nixon said he had been to the creek.
The victim said he observed a vehicle on the scene with two females and a child approximately 10-12 years old.
The landowner said he pulled Nixon’s vehicle back to the gate with his tractor, because the terrain was too rough for the car to be driven out.
The victim said Nixon identified himself and where he was from when asked. However, both females declined to provide similar information. He said he told them to leave, or he would call the police.
Nixon was arrested May 18 and charged with the felony count, as well as a misdemeanor of second-degree criminal mischief.
Online court documents indicate Nixon received a three-year prison sentence in 2019 in Van Buren County Circuit Court on a charge of terroristic threatening. In the negotiated plea, Nixon also received a six-year suspended sentence for a felony charge of possession of a firearm by certain persons, meaning he was a convicted felon.
Sheriff Cassell says Nixon is set to appear in Searcy County Circuit Court this week.
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