Christopher Packley of Lakeview was given four years probation after pleading guilty in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday to charges stemming from a violent domestic disturbance involving gunshots in mid-February.
Law enforcement became involved when Baxter County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call seeking assistance at a residence along Hickory Flats Lane.
According to court records, the deputies contacted a female who said she and her boyfriend — the 34-year-old Packley — had been arguing during the evening and that Packley had become increasingly belligerent. She told deputies that Packley had choked her and held her down on the floor for a time. She said she had held her young son between them during the altercation in hopes that the child’s presence would influence Packley to stop the attack.
She said she was eventually able to escape and fled the residence on foot. She told deputies that as she was running, Packley fired three rounds from a rifle in her general direction. The victim went to a neighbor’s house where she made the 9-1-1 call.
When deputies spoke with Packley, he is said to have admitted firing the rifle, but said he had shot into the air and not at his fleeing girlfriend.
The victim, who has requested that the charges be dropped, was in the courtroom Thursday and said that Packley was a former member of the military and one the day of the disturbance, he had been to the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Fayetteville for treatment of PTSD-related mental issues.
She said that during the treatment sessions, Packley was asked to confront traumatic situations he had been through which were causing him mental problems, and that he often came home from the sessions in a foul and angry mood.
14th Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kerry Chism told Judge John Putman that even though the victim had asked for the charges to be dropped, he did not feel the state should honor the request since the guilty plea from Packley would result in him being prohibited from being in possession of a gun. “We have at least accomplished that in this case,” Chism told the court.
The court did agree to lift the no contact order issued when the case was first filed. The victim told the court that she want Packley to be able to return home and wanted her family to be able to stay together.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI