Thieves strike Hestand Stadium once again

Less than a year ago, some $14,000 in copper wiring was stolen from one of the barns at Hestand Stadium. And then the barn was hit again.

Dale Dixon, who serves as secretary of the South Arkansas Livestock Association, a position that puts him front and center with the operation of the stadium facilities, said that after the wiring was replaced, thieves returned.

“It didn’t last 30 days,” he said last week, while enumerating more recent thefts. “They ripped out all the wiring, including the meters and all the plug-ins.”

Just this past week, Dixon said, thieves struck again, breaking down a door of the announcer’s office that overlooks the main arena area, then cutting through another door where they found and stole the public address system that was connected to all the other barns on the grounds. They also took a sophisticated timer system that is used for rodeo competitions and two large speakers that were mounted outside the office that were used during arena events. The equipment, he said, has been used for decades.

“I had a big old lock on the door, as big as that,” Dixon said, coupling his hands together into a ball. “They steal everything that’s not tied down. Actually, they steal what has been tied down.”

In the most recent incident, which happened early last week, Dixon said the culprits attempted to steal a large swath of chain-linked fence. They had rolled it up but apparently it was too large to haul off. Dixon said they also took an electric saw and cut a large section out of a metal roll-up door. On the other side of the door is a new zero-turn mower that was not stolen — yet.

“They didn’t get it this time, but they’ll be back,” Dixon said. “If they get our mower, we will be dead in the water when it comes to staying ahead of the grass out here.”

Not counting the additional $14,000 in copper stolen last year around August, Dixon puts the most recent thefts at close to $20,000. He said when he calls the Pine Bluff Police Department, they come out and write up a report, but otherwise, he’s gotten little cooperation from the department.

“I’m not getting any help,” he said. “I’ve called the police chief 15 times, and she’s never returned my call. Somebody’s got to care.”

A message left for Police Chief Denise Richardson on Friday was not returned.

Dixon said he would like the police department to patrol the area more vigorously and to check pawn shops for anything that’s been stolen. “What are you going to do with a timer?” he asked.

Dixon said the only person who has offered any support is Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr.

“He jumped into action,” Dixon said. “He brought out one of those security towers but then it stopped working.” The problem, he said, was that thieves had even hit that device, stealing the battery in it and the fuel that runs it.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “In Garland County, they leave the gates open to the fairgrounds 24-7 and nothing happens. And here we are. I’d leave these gates open if the police would drive through occasionally. And I might as well leave the gates open. Closing them doesn’t seem to stop anyone from coming in.”

The thefts have had a domino effect on the operations of the stadium grounds. Replacing the PA system alone could cost as much as $17,000 “if we could find what we had,” Dixon said. Installation, even from an electrician charging a reduced rate, would run $7,500, he added. Then there is replacing the wiring that has been stolen.

“We make a little money from some of the events out here, but we don’t make enough to stay ahead of what’s going on now,” Dixon said. “And if we do replace these things, how long will they be there? I’m afraid to put in anything else; they’ll steal it. And we certainly can’t afford to insure this huge area. That would cost $30,000 to $40,000 a year.”

Without the wiring and equipment, however, it’s harder to bring in the various events the stadium has been used for over the years. For rodeo and other related shows, many people bring RVs and hook up to water and electrical outlets that were installed years ago near the arena. But the copper wire for those outlets is now gone.

“When kids come in with the high school rodeo events, they of course would like a nice stall for their horse, with fans blowing when it’s hot,” Dixon said. “But we can’t offer that right now. So it’s hard to attract shows and events.”

Dixon has been in charge of keeping the stadium grounds up and running for 25 years, but he said he’s never seen the situation so dire.

“This is a voluntary thing,” he said. “I don’t get anything out of this except headaches.”

Dixon said he has tried to get someone to set up an RV on the grounds for free to keep an eye on things, but that effort has gone nowhere.

“I’ve talked to 25 people and no one is interested,” he said. “They tell me, ‘I’m not staying out there.'”

Dixon said additional lighting would help. Someone from Entergy came out and said the company would replace all of the outdated security lights on the grounds, he said.

“They said ‘we will make this as bright as a football field,'” Dixon said. “But that was six months ago and I haven’t heard anything more from them.”

A spokesperson for Entergy said they had in the past six months created five “tickets” in response to Dixon’s requests for help with the lights.

“Each ticket represents one light that needs to be fixed,” the statement said. “Outside of these tickets, we have no other security lighting tickets recorded for that site in the past few months. If there is an issue, we are unaware of it because there is no open ticket.”

The statement from the utility said someone would follow up with Dixon on Monday morning “to see what he is needing” and to get a service person scheduled “to fix any issues if needed.”

Despite the problems, as well as encouragement from his wife to step away from the stadium responsibilities, Dixon said moving on at this point is tantamount to accepting defeat.

“I hate to leave something broken,” he said. “I’m afraid, though, that this might be the first time. The fair board will say, ‘Dale, if you leave, what are we going to do?’ But the clock will tick on after I’m gone.”