Whaples enters addiction treatment program, tells court it is what he had needed for years

A Mountain Home man with a long history of committing crimes, skipping court, running from the law, evading supervision by probation and parole officers and being the object of large-scale manhunts appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday.

In an earlier appearance before the court, 37-year-old Stephan Richard Whaples said he was ready to make changes in his life and asked to enter a treatment program. He said he was “tired of doing things that hurt people.” He also told the court that entering treatment for his addiction problem is “what I have needed for years.”
Whaples has now been sentenced after pleading guilty to his most recent charges in Baxter and Izard Counties.

In Baxter County, he was given a 10-year suspended imposition of sentence. He will be required to enter one of the Community Correction Centers in the state for addiction treatment. The centers are basically a cross between a long-term residential treatment center and a prison in that inmates are strictly supervised while in a center.

If Whaples does not complete the program, he will be jailed.

The initial criminal case opened on Whaples was filed in October 2011 when he was 22 years old. He has also used the alias Travis Shane Adams.

His past charges have included criminal trespass, fleeing, theft of property, refusal to submit to arrest, breaking or entering, commercial burglary, being a felon in possession of a firearm, criminal mischief and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

He was once accused of stealing all terrain vehicles and selling them to raise money to pay fines levied in an earlier case.

In documents filed in a court case in Baxter County in mid-May, Whaples was reported to have unpaid fines totaling almost $30,000. It was noted that he had not made a payment on that arrearage since 2024.

There have been a number of instances where Whaples has been on probation for a significant amount of time only to stop reporting and moving into fugitive status.

Whaples was the subject of four manhunts in less than a year during a period in 2011-2012. The manhunts have involved officers from multiple agencies, roadblocks, tracking dogs and the Baxter County Sheriff’s helicopter.

He has been found in various places included a camper, mobile home, and sleeping on the porch of a residence along Tracy Ferry Road.

Whaples has been mentioned as a person of interest in a number of cases, including one in which he was suspected of entering and sleeping in a residence damaged by a tornado that ripped through the area in May 2024.

Whaples has an established history of fleeing from law enforcement. In an August 2025 incident in Izard County, Whaples tried to outrun an Arkansas State Trooper.

The chase ended at a residence off Dolph Road when Whaples and others bailed out of the truck and ran off. While running the male driver, later identified as Whaples, first dropped a pack of cigarettes, then a camouflage t-shirt and finally a nearly full one-liter Mountain Dew soda bottle.

The trooper ended the chase when Whaples vaulted over a barbwire fence. Additional officers and tracking dogs were brought but Whaples was not immediately found.
The cigarette package that Whaples was reported to have dropped contained a clear plastic bag containing suspected methamphetamine.

At the time of the Izard County incident, Whaples was on parole and had two outstanding arrest warrants, including a probation violation warrant out of Baxter County.
Through the evening and into the morning hours, Whaples was spotted by several residents in the same area he was last seen by law enforcement.

Residential security and game cameras recorded Whaples in various places as he “wandered” through the area. He was reported to have attempted to enter structures at time.

The Izard County incident was similar to others in which Whaples fled to avoid arrest.

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