Matthew Gauger of Mountain Home was among those put on probation during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Gauger was put on probation for 10 years after pleading guilty to charges including aggravated assault, residential burglary and theft of property.
In September last year, a man reported that he was parked near an industrial building in the Midway area when a man,later identified as the 30-year-old Gauger, came out of the woods, began yelling at him and throwing objects at the victim’s vehicle including a hatchet and rocks.
The victim attempted to flee the area, but Gauger continued to throw rocks at his vehicle. The victim drove to the parking lot at Ozark Regional Airport and Gauger then broke off the attack.
The victim told officers that he had no idea what provoked the rather bizarre encounter. The victim told law officers that Gauger was last seen running down State Highway 126 North.
Gauger was spotted a short time later by a Corps of Engineers Park Ranger hiding in a ditch on County Road 913, a short distance from where the attack began. Deputies were called to the location and arrested Gauger.
According to investigative records, Gauger admitted that he had accosted the victim as described. He said that he had used methamphetamine prior to the incident, was looking for his ex-girlfriend, thought he saw her in the victim’s truck and was trying to “save her”.
In the second case, Gauger was charged with breaking into cabin in the Henderson area early this year and stealing various items — including an 1888 Cambridge Bible.
Gauger was ordered to pay a total of $1,750 in restitution which covers both cases.
Kaitlyn Johnston of Mountain Home pled no contest to charges against her and was given eight years probation.
The 22-year-old Johnston was arrested after officers went to a residence on Wade Street in February on a compliance check on Johnston who was on felony probation.
In addition, court records indicate that police had been receiving complaints regarding possible drug traffic at the address. When officers observed what they believed to be a quantity of methamphetamine in the garage, they obtained a search warrant and found 62 grams of methamphetamine, a pay-owe ledger, three active cell phones and what was described as a “counter surveillance system” consisting of a camera trained on the driveway.
Another person residing at the residence was also arrested.
Natasha Davis of Gassville was given four years probation after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
The 27-year-old Davis was a passenger in a vehicle that a Mountain Home police officers stopped in early March. The officer noticed that Davis was apparently attempting to hide an object under her sleeve. A plastic bag containing a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
A case under the seat occupied by Davis was found to contain pipes intended for the ingestion of drugs along with digital scales and two syringes.
According to court records, Davis also admitted that the bag she was attempting to hide contained methamphetamine.
Katie McElroy, who lists an address in Harrison, and Justin Avers of Gassville, were both given three years probation in unrelated cases.
McElroy pled guilty to being part of a group that took items from Walmart without paying in March. Officers were able to identify the suspects and the truck there were in from surveillance video. They spotted the truck shortly after the thefts at Walmart traveling on U.S. Highway 62, stopped it, arrested the occupants and recovered the goods taken from the store.
The 22-year-old McElroy was sentenced under provisions of Act 346 which will allow her to petition the court to have her records sealed if she stays out of trouble during her 36 months on probation.
Avers was arrested after a traffic stop in April during which he was found that he was in possession of a quantity of methamphetamine. A glass smoking pipe used in the ingestion of methamphetamine was also found. Avers contended that he intended to drop the smoking pipe off at the Sheriff’s Office the next day as “evidence”.
The 30-year-old Avers was also sentenced under provisions of Act 346.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI