BENTONVILLE — Two men were arrested Saturday in connection with the continuing investigation into thefts by employees of the Benton County Road Department.
Jackie Dale Brown, 50, a county road superintendent, was arrested in connection with theft of property, a Class D felony; accomplice to theft of property, a Class C felony; theft of services, a Class A misdemeanor; and obstructing governmental operations, a Class C misdemeanor. A bond hearing for Brown was expected Sunday, according to Keshia Guyll, spokesman for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
At A Glance
Stober’s Arrest
Scott Stober, 46, Benton County’s former public service administrator was arrested July 30 in connection with theft of property, a Class D felony, and two counts of theft of property, a Class A misdemeanor. Stober, who was hired in December 2011, has resigned his position with the county. He is free on $2,500 bond awaiting a Sept. 9 appearance before Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
Source: Staff Report
Grant McCracken, also a county road superintendent, was arrested in connection with being an accomplice to theft of property, a Class A misdemeanor. The theft reportedly involved the purchase of lumber used to build a deck at Scott Stober’s residence. McCracken was arrested and released on citation, Guyll said.
McCracken has been interim director of the county Road Department since the July 30 arrest of Stober, the county’s former public services administrator who oversaw the Road Department. Stober was accused of theft of property in connection with the use of county money for his personal benefit and personal use. According to court records, Stober admitted to using county money to buy parts to repair his truck. He also admitted to buying tires for his truck, buying lumber to build a deck at his residence and taking a toolbox bought for his county vehicle to use as a toy box for his children.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Brown told detectives he had accepted cash in return for scrap metal sold by the county at Rogers Iron and Metal Co. Brown reportedly told investigators he would have RIMCO trash bins containing county scrap metal picked up and he would sign a ticket for the transaction and receive an envelope. Brown said he gave the envelopes to Scott Stober, who was his supervisor at the Road Department. Stober reportedly denied receiving cash from RIMCO and also denied that Brown ever delivered cash to him.
Brown also admitted to detectives he had three Road Department employees plant about 500 trees on his property while on county time and they also seeded about an acre after the trees were planted, according to the affidavit. Brown also told detectives he bought a set of tires for his son’s truck using county money. Brown said he took the tires to the Road Department’s Decatur road yard after he learned that Stober was under investigation.
According to another probable cause affidavit, McCracken told investigators he was told by Stober to call in an order for lumber from Ridout Lumber in Rogers. McCracken said Stober told him to give a false job site name and for the invoice to be billed to the county. McCracken told detectives he used Stober’s personal vehicle to pick up the lumber and took it to Stober’s residence in Bella Vista. McCracken said he helped Stober build a deck at his residence over the weekend. The cost of the lumber was $843.
In the probable cause affidavit for Brown, investigators said Brown told them he became concerned about the activities at the Road Department after two county scrapers, heavy road equipment, were taken to RIMCO to be scrapped. Brown said he began telling Stober he was through helping him with these things. According to the affidavit, Stober ordered another employee to take a scraper from Decatur to RIMCO. That employee called another supervisor, Drew McConnell, and said he would need help getting the scraper unloaded. McConnell is the fleet supervisor at the Road Department and, according to the affidavit, became suspicious of Stober ordering the employee to dispose of the scraper. McConnell and McCracken took this and other suspicions to County Judge Bob Clinard on July 29 and Clinard contacted the Sheriff’s office.
Clinard said he has been aware that Brown and McCracken were under investigation.
“I have known for awhile that there have been some allegations against them and those have apparently been confirmed with their arrests,” Clinard said Sunday. “I feel for them and for their families but I am ready get on with this and get on with the work at hand. It’s a sad day for the county but we’ll get over it. Turning this over to the sheriff was the wise thing to do. We’ve done everything we needed to do by the book and we’ll continue to do so.”