A habitual offender was sentenced to 16 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges stemming from three arrests in 2017 and earlier this year.
Kimberly Michelle Bakke, 43, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty to residential burglary and was sentenced to 16 years, to theft by receiving over $1,000 and was sentenced to 10 years, and to theft of property over $1,000 and two counts of theft of a debit card and was sentenced to six years on each count, all to run concurrently with each other.
Bakke is classified as a habitual offender because she was previously convicted of residential burglary on Sept. 18, 2013, in Howard County; on Sept. 16, 2013, in Hempstead County of residential burglary and theft of property over $1,000; and on Sept. 15, 2015, in Garland County of second-degree forgery and was sentenced to prison each time, including a sentence of five years for the 2015 conviction.
According to the probable cause affidavit on the theft by receiving count, on Nov. 15, 2017, a woman reported a break-in to her car on Blacksnake Road in which several items were stolen including a large 5-pound "Vogel" quartz crystal and plastic case full of smaller crystals with a total value of $1,500.
Two days later, it was learned Bakke had stopped at Coleman's Rock Shop to inquire about the value of a "Vogel" crystal. She was recorded on security video inside the store and left her name and phone number before leaving.
On Dec. 5, 2017, officers with the National Park Service and probation and parole searched Bakke's residence and numerous items from the victim's vehicle in the break-in were located. Bakke was arrested on Dec. 15 and released later that same day on a $2,500 bond. She pleaded not guilty on March 6, 2018, and the case had been pending since.
According to the affidavits on the debit card thefts, on Feb. 9, two employees of Dollar General, 830 Mountain Pine Road, had put their purses in the store's office that is not supposed to be accessed by customers.
Shortly before 9:30 p.m., it was discovered both purses, containing debit cards and ID, were stolen. One of the debit cards was later used in and around the Hot Springs area for fraudulent purchases. On March 22, Bakke was arrested on unrelated charges and one of the victim's debit cards was found in her possession.
When asked how she came to have the card, Bakke claimed she didn't remember. Garland County sheriff's investigators obtained video from the Dollar General store which showed Bakke coming into the store shortly after 9 p.m. and standing in the area of the store near the office for a few minutes. At 9:15 p.m., she is seen going into the area of the office and then coming out a few minutes later with something stuffed under her arm and quickly leaving the store.
According to the affidavit on the burglary and theft, on March 10, a burglary was reported at a residence on Jackpot Lane with several items taken including a cellphone, computer, Prada purse and a video camera, with a total value of $2,069.
The resident had a surveillance camera that recorded the incident and sheriff's investigators reviewed the video and still photos taken from it and recognized the woman seen burglarizing the residence as Bakke. They also identified a silver Honda Pilot SUV seen in the video as belonging to Bakke.
Local on 11/01/2019