Mountain Home resident Rory Gregory entered a not guilty plea to a number of charges in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday stemming from a chase through a wide swath of the city on August 18th during which several people — including law officers — narrowly missed being hit by Gregory’s vehicle. The 56-year-old Gregory already has an extensive criminal history stretching back to the 1970s.
His latest trip to prison came after he was given a 15-year sentence in Baxter County Circuit Court in early October 2014. He faced various charges stemming from an incident in August 2014 in which he was accused of attempting to run down Mountain Home Police Officer Larry Caruso when the officer attempted to stop a blue Dodge pickup truck pulling a large trailer, with a crate loaded on it, coming out of a business parking lot on Highway 62/412 East.
Even with his prior record, he was only required to spend about 30 months in prison before being released by the Arkansas Parole Board. The decisions on when to release prisoners on parole are made by the Parole Board and not at the local level. In fact, the releases are often made even over the objections of local officials.
Gregory entered prison in October 2014 and was released on active parole in April.
His past is littered with charges and jail sentences. According to court records, he has a significant number of previous felony convictions and has been involved in alleged crimes in a number of Arkansas counties, as well as out of state locations including Bowie County, Texas.
Gregory’s record with the Arkansas Department of Correction shows him serving prison time on convictions from Baxter, Boone and Independence counties. The records also indicate that he had been given probation for crimes in Baxter, Little River and Washington counties in Arkansas.
Gregory has completed prison time on crimes including theft of property forgery, fleeing and second-degree battery. He was on the “most wanted” list maintained by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office in June of 2014 and was arrested the same month at a hotel in Mesquite, Texas based on a tip from a private citizen. At that time, he was wanted in Baxter and several other counties.
During the incident involving the Mountain Home Police officer in 2014, Caruso noted that when the truck left the business it was well past closing time and the crate had the appearance of being hastily loaded onto the trailer.
Caruso activated his emergency lights and siren and attempted to pull alongside the truck to try and read the license plate, but the driver of the truck — later identified as Gregory — began swerving toward the patrol car, eventually throwing the crate from the trailer. The truck rammed the patrol car on the passenger side, spun around and both vehicles came to a stop.
When Caruso approached the truck, Gregory started the engine and attempted to put the the vehicle in gear. Caruso broke out the driver’s side window and attempted to reach in and take the truck out of gear. Gregory grabbed Caruso’s hand, dragging the officer down the highway. Caruso then drew his service revolver. Gregory grabbed the weapon and continued holding it. Caruso discharged one round into the dash of the truck causing Gregory to release the weapon. The truck was eventually stopped and Gregory was pulled out, but continued to resist and had to be forcefully restrained. The crate on the trailer contained an Artic Cat utility vehicle valued at more than $6,000.
When he entered his plea to the Baxter County charges, he did the same for a Boone County case in which he had allegedly been involved in the theft of a horse trailer.
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