The ultimate sting operation?

A tip o' the hat to reader Dave S. of Arkansas, who sent me the link to this story. I love the place names!

Rickey Dale Ford, 46, of 190 Nanny Goat Lane, was arrested and transported to Conway Regional Medical Center after deputies found him lying in the woods about 900 yards from a home on Billy Goat Mountain where he allegedly had stolen an air compressor, chain saw, two string trimmers and a toolbox.

These items were found sitting on a bush hog, which was being used as a makeshift trailer to transport the stolen goods. A tractor that had been reported stolen from another Billy Goat Mountain residence was being used to pull the Bush Hog.

“The tractor had run over many trees, making its own path through the woods until it could go no more,” the report states.

Still warm, the tractor was found wedged between two trees, according to the report. Maj. Andy Shock of FCSO said the tractor’s path through the woods led back to a barn with a broken lock, from which the stolen property was allegedly taken.

And about 100 yards from the tractor, deputies found Ford lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth, barely breathing and unresponsive, according to the report.

When deputies first arrived, they were told by the property owner that he had seen a man wearing a ski mask riding an ATV on his property. When the property owner confronted the masked trespasser he fled on the ATV, crashing into a bee hive on his way out. According to the report the trespasser abandoned the ATV and proceeded on foot through the woods.

. . .

When deputies found Ford he had been stung between 50 and 100 times, Shock said. Hilltop Volunteer Fire Department First Responders and MEMS were called in to stabilize him and he was transported to Conway Regional Medical Center. He was released into police custody on Monday, according to Shock.

There's more at the link.

Let's see now. Steal a tractor and a bush hog, load the latter with more stolen items, and try to blaze a trail through the forest until you get stuck: retrace your steps, leaving your stolen goodies behind, and steal an ATV, only to drive into a bee hive, and collapse from an accumulation of stings! Stupidity, clumsiness and self-inflicted injury, all in one go!

(For the benefit of non-US readers, who may not know what a bush hog looks like, here's a picture of a representative of the breed.)




I also enjoyed the name of the police spokesman. (Does Major Shock have a sidekick with the surname 'Awe'?) My only disappointment is the name of the perpetrator. Given the property names involved, I was hoping he'd be identified as one of the Billy Goats Gruff!



Peter