Roger Peckenpaugh, III of Calico Rock was sentenced to six years probation during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday after pleading guilty to charges stemming from an incident in late June 2015 in which he was alleged to have chased and rammed a car with his pickup truck in this county and fired shots at the vehicle in Fulton County.
Since the incident played out in both Baxter and Fulton Counties, the 39-year-old Peckenpaugh faced charges in both counties. He recently received the same probation sentence in Fulton County as was handed down in this county, and the two sentences will run concurrent with each other.
According to investigative records, the incident began on June 26, 2015 when Shanna Woody drove her adult son — Cole Staggs — and a six-year-old child to Peckenpaugh’s residence on Rodney Road so the son could make contact with a female acquaintance.
Woody told investigators that she stopped short of Peckenpaugh’s home because of the poor condition of the roadway and that her son walked to the house. She said while she was waiting on him to return, she heard gunshots.
The mother said that when her son returned to the car, they left the area but saw that a red pickup truck was following them and she said that shots were fired at the car by one of the truck’s occupants.
According to investigative reports, the mother said that she made a 911 call to report that she was being chased and that her car — a gray Volkswagen Jetta — had been fired on.
The victims continued driving down Rodney Road to State Highway 177 and turned south. They pulled into the County Line Liquor store parking lot at 8443 Highway 177 South where the pickup that had been following them rammed into the rear of the victims’ car and pushed it across the parking lot where it came to rest near the front door of the business.
Once in the liquor store parking lot, Staggs got out of the car and began fighting with Peckenpaugh whose jaw was broken in the altercation. Peckenpaugh said he rolled under his truck to stop the fight until law enforcement could arrive. Peckenpaugh was taken to Baxter Regional Medical enter for treatment.
According to investigative records, Peckenpaugh’s version of events had Staggs arriving at Peckenpaugh’s home, banging on the door and asking to see the female. He said Staggs became angry when it did not appear that he would be able to visit with the woman — who was reported to be asleep — and that he began to punch Peckenpaugh in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Peckenpaugh told investigators that Staggs walked back toward the Volkswagen Jetta and that the car and its three occupants left the area of his residence. Peckenpaugh said he got a 12-gauge shotgun and began following the car and alleged told officers that shots were fired at the car to “mark it” so it could be identified later and that he rammed the car at the liquor store so he could see “what was going on”.
Baxter County Sheriff’s personnel recovered approximately 40 shotgun pellets from the rear of the vehicle the victims occupied. The gun that was used had been thrown out of the truck during the chase, but was recovered and held for evidence. The investigators said there were may small holes in the trunk lid on the driver’s side of the car and that the rear window was shattered. The holes and the shattered glass were consistent with a shotgun blast, according to investigative records.
As investigators pieced together the events which led to the charges, it was determined that the chase had started in Fulton County and that shots were fired at the Woody vehicle in Fulton County. Peckenpaugh rammed the car at the liquor store which was located just across the Baxter County line.
Peckenpaugh’s attorney, Norman Wilber, told Circuit Judge Gordon Webb that his client had paid for the damages done to the victim’s vehicle in the chase/shooting/ramming incident.
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