A Minnesota man has been charged with the theft of several hundred feeder pigs in northern Iowa’s Mitchell County. Deputy Sheriff Greg Beaver says 44-year-old John Arnold Arndt of Hayfield, Minnesota was arrested Tuesday in Minnesota by deputies from his department with help from Mower County Minnesota deputies. He faces several felony counts in connection with the thefts.

He says it ranges from 200 to 700 head of hogs. Beaver says an alert deputy was able to get the information needed to track down Arndt.  The deputy was in the area of the hog thefts in early September and was able to make a traffic stop, and information from that stop eventually led to Arndt’s arrest.

Beaver says Arndt quickly turned the animals into cash. “Our information and investigation has determined that the hogs immediately went to a sale barn after they were stolen, so Mr. Arndt didn’t have them in his possession very long, and he did sell them,” Beaver says.

There could be more people charged in this case. He says they are still investigating and compiling records and if they have enough evidence, they will file more charges. The thefts happened over several months beginning in November of last year. Beaver says they don’t often see this many animals taken by one person.

Beaver says it’s unusual for the numbers to get this high, but he says it was a “somewhat easy theft” for Arndt.

Anrdt faces charges of ongoing criminal conduct, first-degree theft, conspiracy, possession of burglary tools and a charge related to animal livestock facilities. Beaver says they are waiting for Arndt to be extradited from Minnesota, but don’t expect that to be a long process.