The suspect in the theft of a tractor shot and killed by a Baxter County Sheriff’s Deputy Monday night in the Lone Rock area has been identified as 50-year-old Michael Lavelee Holliman of Nacogdoches, Texas. Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says Holliman provided his address to Baxter County Jail staff after he had been booked in January following his arrest by the Mountain Home Police Department for a charge of DWI. Monday night’s shooting followed a confrontation involving a crossbow.
Sheriff Montgomery says the officer who shot and killed Holliman is Deputy Craig Gates, who has been with the department since July 2015. Gates had previously worked for another law enforcement agency in Arkansas since 2014 before moving to Baxter County.
Montgomery says a disabled vehicle registered to Holliman was found approximately one and a half miles away from the scene on Twin Creek Road, a forest service road. The vehicle was towed to impound and a search warrant is being procured to search it.
Also, Tuesday afternoon, officers found a backpack, a cache of food, clothing, car keys, and other articles at a makeshift campsite in a wooded area approximately one-half mile from where the car was found along the same forest road.
Montgomery says it has been confirmed the tractor Holliman was operating was the one reported stolen earlier Monday. A farm implement attached to the tractor when it was stolen was also found Tuesday. In addition, it was determined there was an outstanding felony bench warrant for Holliman’s arrest for possession of firearms by certain persons or a convicted felon.
It was learned during Holliman’s arrest for DWI in January there were three loaded handguns and one disassembled shotgun in the vehicle. Mountain Home Police later obtained the warrant on February 13th for the arrest of Holliman on the firearms charge. The warrant had not been served and was still active.
Holliman was found to have an extensive past arrest history in Missouri, California, Iowa, and Texas, including convictions for armed robbery, grand theft, and assault. Authorities are trying to determine why Holliman was in the area. He is not known to have any family or acquaintances in this area.
Holliman’s body has been sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiners Office in Little Rock where an autopsy is scheduled to be performed Wednesday morning.
The matter remains under active investigation by the Arkansas State Police, with the Sheriffs Office assisting as needed. Investigators are awaiting the results of the autopsy report prior to releasing any additional information. According to the sheriffs policy, Deputy Gates will be on administrative leave for a few days.
The incident began when, according to Montgomery, Deputy Gates was dispatched to the Lone Rock Store at 7755 Push Mountain Road at approximately 6:11 Monday evening to take a theft report. After arriving at the store, Gates was told a tractor, matching the description of one reported stolen in the same area earlier Monday, passed by the store and was headed west on Baxter County Road 72, adjacent to the store.
Gates followed the tractor a short distance and was able to make contact with the suspect at approximately 6:49. Two minutes later, the deputy advised by radio shots had been fired and a man was down. Additional officers from multiple agencies responded, including an ambulance dispatched from Baxter Regional Medical Center and fire/rescue personnel from the Lone Rock Fire Department.
Preliminary information indicates once the deputy stopped the tractor, the suspect confronted the deputy with a crossbow. A physical struggle ensued and the deputy shot him. The suspect was killed and the deputy sustained a minor injury.
Other agencies assisting were the Mountain Home Police Department, Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Division and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
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