Two Pea Ridge City Trucks Stolen

One Pickup Found Crashed At Gateway Park

PEA RIDGE — Two city Street Department trucks were stolen Friday night. Both were recovered by Saturday morning, but one is totaled, according to city officials.

At 3:42 a.m. Saturday, the Pea Ridge Police Department was notified a city truck was wrecked at Gateway City Park, according to Police Chief Tim Ledbetter. Upon arrival at the scene, police found a 2004 GMC four-wheel drive pickup wrecked into the rock pillar of the arch at the entrance to Gateway Park on U.S. 62.

Emergency personnel from Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire/EMS Department were dispatched to the scene after a passer-by noticed the truck wrecked against the rock pillar.

City Street Department superintendent Nathan See said he was notified about 4 a.m. that a city truck was found in Gateway.

“I came to the yard, found the gate off the hinges, a window busted and two trucks missing,” See said, adding that after going to Gateway to confirm that it was the city’s truck, he called all of his employees to meet at the Police Department.

All eight Street Department employees were fingerprinted and interviewed.

The second truck, a 2008 Chevrolet 1500 4x4, was found undamaged on a city street east of town.

“It gives us something to match,” Ledbetter said, because the employees’ fingerprints would be found on and in the trucks.

Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree, in office for the past 20 years, said nothing like this has happened in the city in his tenure.

“The police are doing all they can. Nathan is taking care of the rest of it,” Crabtree said. “We’ll call insurance on Monday.”

“Something people don’t realize,” Ledbetter said, “is that this type of malicious activity hurts the taxpayers, it’s the taxpayers who pay.”

At Gateway, James Appleton, park superintendent, discovered the damage about 7 a.m. when checking the park.

“I walk through the park every day,” Appleton said, explaining that he inspects the facilities daily.

“The park is Gateway’s pride and joy — it’s the heart of Gateway,” Gateway Mayor Frank Hackler Jr. said. “We spend thousands of dollars a year to maintain the park. We get many letters from tourists thanking us for the park.”

Hackler explained that the park and restrooms are not locked so Benton County Sheriff’s deputies and travelers may use the facilities in the rural area through which U.S. Highway 62 passes.

The arch was built about four years ago, Appleton said, at the cost of $34,000.

Ironically, there is no insurance on the Gateway City Park, a subject that was just discussed at the most recent Gateway City Council meeting, Hackler said.

Police have asked that anyone with information about the incident notify Pea Ridge Police at 451-8220.

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