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BOND SET IN THEFT CASE

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 2:02 PM CST

A $10,000 bond was set Monday for a Pine Bluff man who was found behind a vacant house on the west side of the city with a lawnmower and trailer that had been reported stolen.

Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis set the bond for William Dulaney Sr., 42, after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge him with theft by receiving.

Deputy Prosecutor Jill Reed said the lawnmower and trailer, valued at $6,485 were found behind a house in the 6600 block of West 13th Avenue at about 10 a.m., Friday, after police were sent to the house to investigate reported suspicious activity.

Reed said Dulaney was sitting in the trailer attempting to start the mower when officers arrived. The officer who took the report for the stolen items also arrived at the scene, confirmed that the trailer and mower were the items on his report.

In addition, the owner of the lawnmower and trailer reported that the unknown person who took them had also flattened the tires on two vehicles, Reed said, adding that the cost of replacing or fixing the tires had not been determined as yet.

Reed said Dulaney had prior convictions dating back to 1978, and in an unsolicited statement to officers after he was arrested, claimed he had “a drug problem.”

Also Monday, Judge Dennis ruled prosecutors had probable cause to charge Robert Williams, 24, of Pine Bluff with breaking or entering and theft of property, based on an affidavit from police detective Marsha Oliver.

Reading from the affidavit, Reed said officers on patrol on North University Drive Saturday at 3:45 a.m. saw a man later identified as Williams get into a Chevrolet pickup and “appear to mess with the steering column,” then get out and walk into a business.

She said officers sat on the parking lot and after Williams walked out of the business and started walking away from the lot, stopped him, and determined that the truck was not his.

Reed said officers found the steering column of the truck had been broken, and after locating the owner, learned that she did not know Williams, had not given him permission to be in the truck, and the steering column had not been broken when she parked the vehicle.

Williams was taken to the county detention center but was not interviewed at the time because he was too intoxicated, Reed said, adding that detectives went to the detention center about 12 hours later to talk to Williams, who denied breaking into the truck and damaging the steering column.

“He claimed that the police were picking on him because Obama is now the president,” Reed quoted the affidavit as saying.

Her request for a $25,000 bond for Williams, who Reed said is on probation in three other cases, was denied by the judge who set bond instead at $1,500.

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