A citizen tip has led to the quick arrest of a rural Mountain Home man who has 19 prior bookings in the Baxter County Detention Center since 1996. Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says 41-year-old Chad Lee Merriman was arrested Thursday morning in Izard County after he had been published Wednesday on the Baxter County Sheriff’s Most Wanted website.
When officers arrived at the scene, the victim unlocked the front door and said in a whisper that Merriman was hiding in the attic.
With one officer watching the attic opening, the second called to Merriman outside the residence through the ceiling of the front porch. Merriman agreed to exit the attic. But while one officer was waiting at the opening, he heard a crashing noise right above from Merriman kicking out the wall of the attic and jumping to the ground. The second officer ran around the house in time to see Merriman running into the woods. Officers pursued Merriman, but were not successful in capturing him.
On Thursday, the Sheriffs Office received a tip that Merriman was at an Izard County residence. With assistance from the Izard County Sheriffs Office, he was located and taken into custody without incident. He was transported to the Baxter County Detention Center where he has been booked on a felony charge of residential burglary and three misdemeanor offenses.
Merriman is being held without bond. He is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court on September 14th. Merriman’s prior offenses include five previous fleeing charges and arrests for domestic battery and violating an order of protection.
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