Mucha enters not guilty plea on arson charges
Mark Dennis Mucha of Lakeview, who is charged with torching two residences he owns, appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and pled not guilty. He was ordered to reappear in court on June 22nd.
According to investigative records, Mucha called 911 just after 3 a.m. May 15th and reported that he had “just lit his house on fire”. The structure was located at 952 Hickory Flats Lane.
A female called 911 just before 5 a.m. to report that the 42-year-old Mucha had stopped by her residence and told her that he had burned his house down and was going to the police station to turn himself in.
At about 5:18 a.m., Mucha called 911 again to report that he had set fire to a structure that he used as a second home at 197 Buffalo Rapids Lane in the Buford area. Both structures, which had a combined estimated value of more than $270,000, were destroyed by the flames.
According to information in the probable cause affidavit, both calls from Mucha came from the same telephone number.
Mucha turned himself in at the Ozark County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office in Gainesville, reporting what he had done and that the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office was looking for him. He was returned to this county and is currently an inmate in the Baxter County jail with bond set at $150,000.
In 2003, Mucha had been charged with aggravated assault and 3rd degree battery after he attacked a person with a small wooden bat after he discovered several people on his private boat dock located on Bull Shoals Lake.
The victim in the case had cracked ribs and a laceration to the head which took 13 staples to close.
In September 2004, Mucha pled guilty to 3rd degree battery. The more serious charge of aggravated assault was dismissed by the state.
Mucha was given 12 months probation and ordered to pay more than $3,100 in restitution in that case.
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Ozark County man charged in shooting incident
After a shooting incident and leading authorities in a manhunt Thursday, a rural Ozark County man was formally charged on Friday. According to Springfield television station KYTV, 44-year-old Ivan Mulero faces one count each of unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and child endangerment. His bond is set at $250,000.
An Ozark County deputy went to Mulero’s residence on County Road 615 Thursday afternoon on a report of a domestic dispute involving a gun being fired. The victim told the deputy Mulero became angry and fired several shots from a 9mm pistol toward her and her child. She said he then walked into the yard, fired two shots at her vehicle and began walking west on County Road 615. Mulero’s wife said the argument was over feeding the dogs.
The deputy found a bullet hold through the living room wall but no bullet. He estimated from witness accounts the shot missed the victim by two-to-three feet, the victim’s child by two-to-2 1/2 feet and Mulero’s wife by two-to-four feet.
The deputy then found a 9mm casing near the porch and two more nearly 12 feet from the victim’s vehicle. A probable cause statement reports a bullet hole was in the rear side of the vehicle’s bumper.
A manhunt for Mulero began as the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by Baxter County deputies and helicopter, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Arkansas Department of Correction’s North Central Unit K9 Tracking Team from Calico Rock. He was arrested just before nine p.m. at the home next to his residence.
A detective reports Mulero admitted during a jail interview he became angry because he felt his wife and the victim disrespected him at his residence. He says the victim was supposed to stay at his home for a few days, but he became angry because she offered to feed the dogs. Mulero said it was his job to feed the dogs, and he didn’t like her talking about it to his wife. When he ordered the victim to leave, she refused because it wasn’t just his house and she was there with his wife. Mulero says he then fired four shots in her direction, walked over to her vehicle and fired two more at its rear end. He went into the house for a can of soda, went back into the yard and threw the drink at the victim and her child missing the child’s head by inches. Mulero says he fired two more shots into the woods and hid the firearm before his arrest.
Mulero faces five-to-15 years for unlawful use of a weapon, three-to-ten years for unlawful possession of a firearm and up to seven years for child endangerment. His first court appearance is scheduled for June 13th.
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Landfill scheduled to close, tire dump making progress
While bond issues for the NABORS landfill remain unresolved, treatment for the area is making progress. Melinda Caldwell, Director of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, announced in the district’s board meeting last week the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has scheduled the landfill site for final closure.
The contract has been awarded to a company out of St. Louis and they are to begin the process some time in June. They will use a product called closure turf to cover the landfill. Caldwell says it looks like sand and will potentially reduce leachate production by 95 percent.
The Damco tire dump site is making progress as well, ADEQ has made a second request round for bids to clean the area. Caldwell says there will be two phases of the project.
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The ADEQ estimates cost of the cleanup at Damco to be around $1 million. Arkansas legislators passed House Bill 1705, now Act 1037, in 2015 which authorizes the ADEQ to use landfill closure funds for the closure of waste tire facilities.
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Skimmer found on local gas pump
A scam known throughout the United States has made its way to the Twin Lakes Area. The Mountain Home Police Department is reporting skimmer has been spotted on a gas pump with the credit card scanner at a local convenience store.
Investigator Mike Day the skimmers seen locally are a little different from the ones typically seen around the country.
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Day says other than where the skimmer is located on the pump, it looks similar to the one many have viewed online. He adds there are several ways to avoid the scam, including one possibly offered in side the store.
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For those using their credit or debit cards, another option to avoid the skimmers is using the card inside the store. For more information, call the Mountain Home Police Department at 870-425-6336.
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Yellville-Summit students raise over $3,000 for backpack program
As Arvest Bank’s One Million Meals campaign continues, one local school is doing its part. Students in the Yellville-Summit School District recently raised over $3,000 and collected more than 1,000 non-perishable food items during a week-long food and funds drive titled “Panthers Can Change Lives,” and collections benefitted the school’s Food for Thought Backpack Program supporting nearly 50 local children.
A friendly competition was created as part of the campaign to determine which grades could collect the most change. The kindergartners won the kindergarten through sixth grade division, and the freshmen class was at the top among seventh through 12th grades. Every class at Yellville-Summit was treated to a complimentary cookout by Arvest Bank following the campaign.
Arvest’s One Million Meals campaign is a two-month bank-wide effort to reduce hunger in the 120 communities it serves in a four-state area. It challenges associates, customers and the community to donate non-perishable food items and money to any Arvest Bank location in support ofo local food partners. Donations at Arvest Bank in Yellville and its surrounding communities benefit the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas’s backpack program and other area backpack programs operated by various organizations. According to Yellville-Summit Elementary School Counselor, students have raised for than $13,000 for the Food for Thought Backpack Program since 2013.
The One Million Meals campaign will continue through June 3rd. Donations can be made by calling 866-952-9523, and Arvest credit card customers can donate Arvest Flex Rewards points by going online to arvestflexrewards.com and clicking on the 1 Million Meals banner. For more information, go to arvest.com/millionmeals.
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