NORFORK, Ark. — Brass vases worth an estimated $10,000 were cut up and sold for $130 after being taken from military grave markers near Norfork, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
David Sutterfield Jr., 50, of rural Mountain Home, was arrested on multiple charges in connection with the thefts at Galatia Cemetery on Arkansas 5 South, Sheriff John F. Montgomery said in a Sept. 18 release.
The sheriff’s office received a complaint Sept. 7 that several brass vases were missing from headstones at the cemetery.
Investigators contacted a local recycling center Sept. 8 to ask whether any of the vases had been brought in for scrap. An employee told investigators the center had received brass vases matching the description, according to the release.
Recycling center records identified Sutterfield as the person who brought in the vases and received $130, the sheriff said. The vases had been cut up before being taken to the center.
The sheriff’s office listed the following charges:
- Desecration of burial grounds or burial furniture, a felony.
- Defacing or damaging a public building or an object of public respect, a felony.
- Theft by receiving, a felony.
- First-degree criminal mischief, a felony.
- Criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
The release also listed a habitual offender penalty enhancement.
Sutterfield was being held on $15,000 bond when the release was issued Sept. 18. His Circuit Court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 12, according to the sheriff.
Montgomery said jail records show Sutterfield has been booked into the Baxter County Detention Center at least 13 times since 2016 on felony and misdemeanor charges. The release did not give the outcomes of those cases.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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