A juvenile male arrested with an adult inside a car that had been reported stolen in 2024 has failed to convince the Arkansas Court of Appeals that his case should be dismissed.
According to the ruling from Appeals Court Judge Mike Murphy, the juvenile was with Raymond Chastain, 18, of Stuttgart that had been reported stolen in Stuttgart on Jan. 19, 2024.
The car was found on the parking lot of the Huddle House in Pine Bluff at about 2 a.m., and the juvenile male and Chastain were found asleep in the vehicle.
Chastain pleaded guilty to theft of property in Circuit Court in Stuttgart and was sentenced to 36 months in prison, with an additional 24 months suspended.
The juvenile’s case was heard in Juvenile Court and Judge Earnest Brown ruled that he was delinquent. He was sentenced to one year of probation subject to several conditions of supervision, fines, and fees.
He appealed his conviction but Murphy wrote that provided sufficient evidence that the juvenile was an accomplice with Chastain, establishing that the juvenile rode in the vehicle from Stuttgart to Pine Bluff without permission, then went to sleep in the vehicle in a business parking lot.
The judge also ruled that the juvenile failed to offer any plausible explanation, or explanation for the juvenile’s possession and use of the stolen vehicle without permission or being an accomplice to someone who did, there was sufficient evidence to support the delinquency adjudication.
