Christopher Sanders (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
The charges against a man accused of stealing guns and a gold wedding band from a relative were dismissed at the request of the victim during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court on Dec. 2.
The charges against 40-year-old Christopher Gene Sanders include theft of property and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In addition, he is also charged with violating the terms and conditions of his probation handed down in an earlier case. The revocation charge was reduced to contempt, and he was sentenced to time served.
It was announced to the court that the victim wanted to put the matter behind him.
On March 1, 2022, the victim reported that a gold wedding band with three diamonds, valued at about $2,500, was missing. The victim suspected Sanders but wanted more proof that he had taken the ring.
The victim called the sheriff’s office on March 12, 2022, to report that four handguns had also been stolen. The value of the guns was estimated at slightly more than $3,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim contacted the sheriff’s office in July 2023 and reported he had located two of his missing weapons and had two people willing to talk to authorities as to how they came into possessions of the guns.
When they were interviewed, they told a sheriff’s department investigator that Sanders had come to their residence and asked to borrow money in early 2022.
Sanders offered to let them hold two guns as collateral until the loan was repaid. The guns were ones reported stolen.
A check of LeadsOnline showed Sanders had pawned a ring matching the description of the one reported stolen from the victim. Pawn shops in Arkansas are required to report all property pawned or purchased and to upload that data to make it available to law enforcement.
The business where the ring was pawned told investigators the ring had been sent to the refinery and that it had been destroyed.
The fact that the date of the crime is in early 2022 and the case was not set up until this year is due to Sanders being a fugitive. Court records show that a revocation petition was filed May 27, 2022, but an arrest warrant was not served until Aug. 1.
PRIOR CRIMES
Sanders has had other run-ins with the law. In 2016, he was charged with using a stolen credit card about 26 times in a 13-day span, running up slightly more than $3,300 in charges.
The card was stolen from the center console of a pickup truck parked in a driveway at a residence in Gassville.
Investigators were able to obtain video and still pictures from security systems at various businesses to identify who had used the card.
Sanders was sentenced to 72-months-probation in that case.
SQUATTING IN VACATION HOME
In 2017, Sanders was arrested after he was found using a vacation home without permission.
The home located along Spring Lake Drive was owned by a man who split his time between residences in Michigan and Arkansas.
The man, who was in Michigan at the time, called his daughter who lived in this area to go by and check on the house.
When the daughter and her husband arrived at the house, they noticed a door to a detached garage was open. They also reported hearing a radio playing and the air conditioner running.
Inside, the couple found clothes, food, toys and toiletries. A glass smoking pipe with a residue suspected of being marijuana, a quantity of marijuana and rolling papers.
A sheriff’s deputy responded and began interviewing the relatives.
While the deputy was on scene, Sanders, a female and a 7-year-old child drove up. Sanders said he was a friend of the owner’s son.
When contacted, the owner’s son said he knew Sanders but had not given him permission to use the house. The owner in Michigan was contacted, and he said he had given no one permission to use the house.
After more time passed, Sanders was said to have admitted he did not have permission to be in the house. He said the marijuana and paraphernalia in the kitchen cabinet belonged to him.
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