Authorities report an arrest warrant has been issued for the mayor of Hoxie.
On Friday a judge found probable cause to charge Dennis Coggins, age 70 with theft of property less than $5,000, a Class D felony.
According to the affidavit, on March 15th 2024, the City of Hoxie purchased 45 boxes of laminate flooring totaling $3,221.96 at the Home Depot in Jonesboro.
15 boxes were used to replace the flooring in the mayor’s office. The remaining 30 boxes were stored in a closet.
When additional flooring was needed for other city offices, it could not be found.
According to the court documents, City Clerk and City Treasurer stated that Jerry Ward took the boxes of flooring at the request of Mayor Dennis Coggins and installed the flooring at home on SE Front Street.
On April 8th authorities executed a search warrant at the home owned by Coggins where investigators reported finding the flooring installed.
While searching the home, investigators found an unopened box of flooring tiles in a bedroom closet.
The SKU numbers on the box reportedly matched the same SKU numbers on the Home Depot receipt that was obtained from the city treasurer.
Authorities say the 30 boxes of flooring that were installed at the residence belonged to the City of Hoxie, valued at $2,147.70.
The affidavit stated that the City of Hoxie was never reimbursed for the cost of the flooring.