Two Men Charged After Defrauding Hospice Patient

An Arkadelphia and a Hope man have been charged after they allegedly stripped a hospice patient’s home of its contents.

According to an affidavit filed by Clark County Sheriff’s Investigator Russell Ursery, he was contacted by a representative of a Shiloh Road resident who told him that two men had removed numerous items from the residence after the homeowner went into hospice care.

Numerous tools, appliances, and even wall pictures were stolen, the report noted and the outside air conditioning unit had been taken to a scrap yard.  Several items were located at a local pawn shop.  Some silver and goldware were declined at one pawn shop and the owner called the police, allowing officers to located and arrest one suspect, James Bradley Biddle, 29, of 1852 Shiloh Road, who attempted to say the items had been given to him, a fact disputed by the victim in the case.

Other items, including a piano, were located at a Gurdon residence.  A Friendship man, who had helped Biddle move what he thought was his belongings, also assisted police in the case.  Also arrested in the case was Rex Allen Rigney, of Hope, who is Biddle’s stepfather.

Both men are charged with Theft by Receiving and Criminal Mischief, which are Class C Felonies.