A Mountain Home man, 45 yar old CHAD MICHAEL BLANKLEY, was arrested on an outstanding felony bench warrant last Saturday, September 6th, and was also found to be in possession of other stolen property at the time of his arrest.
On September 2, 2025, a local towing company reported having the previous day towed an abandoned vehicle on the roadway, a 2016 grey Jeep Wrangler with Arkansas license plates, from within the City of Mountain Home. The vehicle was towed to the impound yard operated by the towing company, which is outside of Mountain Home.
After unloading the vehicle at the impound lot, the tow company operator contacted the owner of the vehicle by phone. An argument ensued over the circumstances of the tow. Approximately an hour later, the towed vehicle was discovered to be missing from the impound yard. The gate to the impound yard had not been locked.
The tow company operator then went to the address attached to the vehicle registration and observed the Jeep parked back in the driveway of the residence. Law enforcement was contacted to investigate. The $350 tow bill was unpaid, and the impound yard had been entered into unlawfully. A bench warrant was later obtained for the arrest of the owner, identified as CHAD BLANKLEY.
On Saturday morning, September 6, 2025, Sheriff’s Deputy Ethan Raymond responded to the Jordan Store on State Hwy 177 South for a theft report. Video evidence was shown to the deputy that indicated two men in a white Dodge pickup truck, pulling a small trailer, had gone inside the store, which is under reconstruction, and stole a Predator brand 13,000 watt portable generator. Video from an earlier incident on August 30, 2005 showed a Jeep pulling into the Jordan Store parking lot in the early morning hours, bearing an Arkansas vehicle license that matched the vehicle license number of the Jeep later reported stolen from the tow company impound yard.
Deputy Raymond then went to the address in Mountain Home associated with the vehicle license plate number and CHAD BLANKLEY for the purpose of attempting service of the outstanding bench warrant. Once at the residence, Deputy Raymond also observed the white Dodge truck and trailer at the residence, along with the Predator brand generator on the trailer.
CHAD BLANKLEY was arrested on the outstanding bench warrant and taken to the Sheriff’s Office. During interview, BLANKLEY admitted taking the generator from the Jordan Store. He refused to identify the other male who had been observed on the video surveillance footage.
CHAD MICHAEL BLANKLEY was subsequently booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of:
Breaking or Entering – Felony by Bench Warrant
Theft of Services – Misdemeanor by Bench Warrant
Breaking or Entering – Felony (warrantless)
Theft of Property – Felony (warrantless)
BLANKLEY is being held in custody in lieu of $15,000 bond. He was scheduled to appear yesterday before the Baxter County Circuit Court to answer.
