Bakersfield man sentenced to 4 years in prison for theft, to run concurrently with other cases

Jesse Osterkamp pleaded guilty to stealing ($750 or more) as part of a plea agreement before Circuit Judge Craig Carter during the Dec. 8 session of Ozark County Law Day. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The sentence is to run concurrently, or at the same time, as any other criminal cases he has in Howell County. As part of the agreement, two other stealing cases were dismissed. 

An open gate, a missing four-wheeler

According to the probable cause statement filed in one case, prepared by Ozark County Deputy Kyle Hannaford, the officer was dispatched to a home on Highway O in Bakersfield at 3:08 p.m. March 10. The homeowner, Carolyn Evans, reportedly told the officer that she’d arrived at her farm that morning and found the gate that sits at the end of her long driveway open. 

Evans said she was immediately suspicious, because she always closes the gate, but thought that maybe she’d forgotten to close it that morning, so she made her way down the drive and went to a barn on the property.

While completing her usual farm chores, Evans realized that her ATV was missing. She described the four-wheeler as a green 2004 Yamaha 400 with front and rear racks and a 15-gallon sprayer attached, worth about $1,600. While she and Hannaford looked inside the barn, they found that two ratchet straps, a 12-volt battery and two locks were also missing. 

ATV found in suspect’s back yard

Three weeks later, on April 3, Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin, Sgt. Justin Brown and Deputy Seth Miller went to Osterkamp’s residence. Miller found a green four-wheeler matching the description of Evan’s missing one in the back yard. The VIN number matched that of Evans’ missing ATV. 

Osterkamp’s parents arrived on scene and told the sheriff that Jesse was not there. Duke’s towing arrived on scene and towed the vehicle. It was recovered and released back to the owner. 

“Due to the location of the ATV when it was recovered (the Osterkamp residence) and give Mr. Osterkamp’s past criminal history, I have probable cause to believe he acquired the ATV from the reporting party’s property,” Hannaford wrote in his report. 

Criminal history

Osterkamp was charged in another case with another county of felony-level stealing in Ozark County in connection with the alleged theft of Don and Dorene Wages’ utility trailer in July 2019. 

Osterkamp was charged as a prior and persistent offender in the newer stealing case due to his past Ozark County convictions including a March 5, 2014 case in which he was convicted of stealing and a July 5, 2017, case in which he pleaded guilty to non-support of a child. He’s also been convicted of these charges: 2004 Howell County conviction of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia; 2012 conviction of fraudulent use of a credit or debit card; 2015 Ozark County conviction of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.