The St Francis County Sheriff’s Department was made aware of someone stealing copper and other metal from the old Sanyo building in Forrest City and conducted a still watch operation at the location on Tuesday (9/25/18) Uniformed deputies waited inside of the vacant building where investigators had discovered some tools used to dismantle metal piping earlier in the day.

Approximately 5:15 PM a suspect wearing a mask entered the building and was confronted by officers. The suspect refused to comply with commands but was taken into custody after a TASER deployment. The suspect was identified as 26-year-old Steven Pipkin of Hwy 284 in St Francis County. The suspect is charged with Commercial Burglary and Refusal to Submit to Arrest and is currently in the St Francis County Jail awaiting arraignment in District Court with additional charges anticipated.

“I want to commend our Detectives and Deputies for their work in this case,” commented Sheriff Bobby May. “We know this suspect has been involved in multiple thefts and by conducting this successful operation it resulted in his apprehension in the act.”