A Royal man already in jail on other charges was served with multiple felony warrants Wednesday night stemming from the theft of a local man's pickup and his credit-debit cards, which were later used.
Sean Allen Gaw, 33, who has remained in custody since Sept. 21, was charged with five counts of second-degree forgery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and seven counts of theft by receiving, each punishable by up to six years, which carries bonds totaling $35,000. He is set to appear on the new charges on Oct. 19 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, on Sept. 15, a local man living on Akers Road filed a complaint with the Garland County Sheriff's Department stating his maroon 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup, valued at $5,000, was stolen that morning. His wallet with debit and credit cards and his checkbook were inside the pickup and there was $1,000 in damage to his gate.
Later that same day, his credit card was used at three different Hot Springs locations for a total of $996.11 and his debit card was used at three different locations for a total of $202.50. Five checks were written on his account at different locations for a total of $593.43. The total of cards and checks was $1,792.04.
GCSD Investigator Jennifer Tonseth obtained security video from the various businesses where the cards were used and was able to identify Gaw by comparing the video to his driver's license photo. Tonseth also observed Gaw exiting the victim's pickup in the videos.
• A check of a suspicious person led to a local man's arrest on a felony drug charge late Wednesday.
Shane Houston Cochran, 22, who lists an address of 115 Westhill Lane, was taken into custody shortly before 9 p.m. and charged with possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, punishable by up to six years in prison. He remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $2,500 bond and is set to appear Oct. 17 in district court.
According to the affidavit, shortly before 8:30 p.m., GCSD Cpl. Cannon was dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of Iroquois Road regarding a suspicious white male and made contact with the suspect, identified as Cochran, sitting on the porch.
Cannon noted the suspect had what appeared to be a cigarette pack in his hand and as soon as he saw Cannon he dropped the pack and walked toward him. The complainant walked up and stated he was house sitting while the homeowners were out of town and no one was supposed to be at the residence.
He noted he didn't know Cochran and that he wasn't from the area. Cochran reportedly stated he was "waiting on A.B." and since there were no lights on he didn't want to disturb anyone. He didn't know the full name of A.B. and was "extremely fidgety" and kept asking if he could leave.
The cigarette pack was checked and found to contain a clear baggie with what later tested positive for meth, approximately 0.4 grams.
Local on 10/09/2015