A Mountain Home man has been arrested after he allegedly stole property and then reported it stolen. Fifty-seven-year-old Rodney Brabon is facing charges of theft and filing a false report for the incident.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Baxter County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a rural area of Mountain Home on Dec. 6, 2024, for a theft report. Brabon and the victim reported numerous items stolen, including a Suzuki motorcycle, 10 sheets of plywood, a welder, welding rods, batteries, a refrigerator, a pressure washer, power tools, hand tools, and other items. The total value of the stolen property was estimated at $8,400.
Over the following weeks, deputies interviewed several sources who claimed another man was selling items that matched the description of the stolen property. On Dec. 27, a citizen told deputies he had purchased tools from the man but later discovered they were stolen. After reviewing a list of the stolen items, the citizen reported seeing additional stolen property at a shop building where he had purchased the tools. Deputies documented the items, and the citizen returned them to the victim.
A search warrant was executed on the property of the man accused of selling the items. Deputies recovered numerous items reported stolen inside a shop building on the property. On Dec. 30, a representative of the man accused of selling the items contacted deputies. During a meeting, the representative showed deputies text messages indicating Brabon had sold the items to the man.
Deputies brought Brabon in for an interview, where he gave multiple conflicting accounts. In one version, Brabon claimed he traded the plywood for methamphetamine. In another, he said he gave the motorcycle to the man accused of selling the stolen items for free.
After an hour of questioning, Brabon admitted to selling the items and then falsely reporting them as stolen. He also claimed he may have been under the influence of drugs at the time he sent some of the text messages and could not remember sending them.
Authorities said Brabon’s false report caused deputies to spend significant time investigating the incident, led to property damage for the man accused of selling the items, and cost Baxter County taxpayers more than $500. Under Arkansas law, this makes filing the false report a felony.
Brabon was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center where he is facing a felony count of filing a false report, theft of property and an enhancement for habitual offense. He is currently being held on a $5700 bond.
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