A rural Mountain Home man who was arrested after swinging a hatchet at law enforcement officers and who accused his neighbors of implanting a chip and bugs into his body made a first appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him.
During his appearance, the 53-old-Nykola Kotyk began arguing his case — claiming he was the one attacked by Baxter County deputies. He said there was “nothing true” in the allegations made against him. He also said he needed the court to approve a significant bond reduction because he had a dog at his residence that needed him.
Judge John Putman did not lower the current $25,000 bond. He said if Kotyk and his attorney could come up with a set of acceptable terms and conditions to govern Kotyk if he was released on bond, he would revisit the issue.
Kotyk was charged following an incident December 22nd. Baxter County deputies were dispatched to a residence along County Road 420 in response to a disturbance call. They found Kotyk standing in the yard “screaming and cussing to the top of his voice”.
As the deputies were attempting to calm Kotyk down, he is alleged to have said his neighbors had electrified his house, had placed a force field around the residence and had put chips and bugs into his body. Kotyk was said to have demanded that the deputies go immediately and arrest his neighbors.
After Kotyk continued screaming, the decision was made to place him under arrest for disorderly conduct.
As the deputies approached Kotyk, he turned and started toward the back door of his house. The deputies reported that as Kotyk reached the bottom of the steps, he picked up what one of the deputies thought was a hammer and swung it toward them.
A Taser was deployed in an effort to get Kotyk under control. He is reported to have stumbled up the steps, but did not go down. A second Taser was deployed and Kotyk fell on the porch at that point.
The deputies reported that Kotyk rolled over swinging the weapon causing the Taser probes to pull out. He was eventually subdued and placed under arrest.
After he had been arrested, deputies discovered he had been swinging a hatchet at them rather than a hammer.
Kotyk’s charges include two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of using a prohibited weapon, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was ordered to reappear in Circuit Court on January 18th.
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