A reportedly homeless man was arrested Thursday after Garland County sheriff's deputies found him in a camper while investigating reports of break-ins and thefts.
Christopher Allen Whichard, 27, who lists no permanent address, was taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. and charged with two felony counts of breaking and entering, punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of theft of property less than $1,000, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Whichard remained in custody in lieu of $3,500 bond and was set to appear Friday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Monday, deputies received a complaint from a woman in Jessieville that a male with a black hoodie and sweatpants had stolen a bag from her vehicle parked outside of the Walmart Supercenter, 3604 Highway 7 north.
The woman reportedly got a description of the man from Walmart employees and saw him walking on Highway 7. She took photos of the man and gave them to deputies for review.
Deputy Benny Rowe reviewed the photos and security footage of a man opening the driver's door, removing the bag from the vehicle and walking toward Highway 7, and confirmed the man's identity as Christopher Whichard.
Deputies received a call Thursday of a reported theft at Dollar Tree, 4654 Highway 7, and Rowe responded to the scene and made contact with the store manager who said a white male wearing baggy sweatpants and a blue shirt had allegedly stolen store items, placed them in his pants and headed north on Highway 7.
Rowe drove to Ellison Drive and made contact with a man on a bicycle who said he saw a man fitting the description of the shoplifter go into a camper parked behind a nearby hardware store.
Rowe went to the camper indicated and found it open and unlocked. After entering, he made contact with a male fitting the description, who was identified as Whichard.
Whichard was shown to the manager at Dollar Tree who confirmed he was the one he had seen stealing items.
The owner of the lot where the camper was located told deputies Whichard did not have permission to be on the premises. Rowe also made contact with the owner of the camper who was unaware that anyone was in his camper and confirmed that Whichard did not have permission to enter.
Local on 03/17/2018