A man arrested in early July for cattle theft in Searcy County now faces additional charges in Fulton County.
Thirty-seven-year-old Steven Bashaw of Salem has been charged with theft of property, a Class C felony. The charges are related to Bashaw’s previous arrest.
According to Searcy County Sheriff Kenny Cassell, his office was contacted June 21, by a victim saying he had entered into an agreement with Bashaw to sell him 14 goats and five Holstein cows for $5,600. An unknown person arrived at the seller’s residence in St. Joe, loaded up the livestock and began to leave, but was chased down by the seller. The driver handed the seller four checks for $1,400 each to pay for the animals.
When the victim went to the bank, he learned the checks were fraudulent and could not be cashed.
Fulton County law enforcement discovered Bashaw had allegedly taken money from Fulton County residents to purchase the livestock. He instead kept that money, gave the fraudulent checks to the seller and then reportedly sold the livestock at auction. The Fulton County victims provided $5,100 for the purchase of the livestock, but never received the animals or had their money returned.
Bashaw was charged with four counts of forgery and one count of theft of property and released after posting a $15,000 bond on the Searcy County charges. Bond for the Fulton County charge at $5,000.
The case was investigated by the Searcy County Sheriff’s Office, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
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