A woman arrested after she chased a man down a highway armed with a knife entered a not guilty plea to charges of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last week.
The incident leading to 35-year-old Victoria Carpenter’s arrest began when officers responded to a call earlier this month reporting a woman armed with a knife was standing in the middle of a highway. An Arkansas State Police trooper was first on the scene. He observed Carpenter standing in the road and saw the knife. He ordered Carpenter to drop the weapon, but she began walking toward him still clutching the knife.
The trooper ordered her to drop the weapon a second time and she complied.
Carpenter was reported to be hysterical when the trooper first arrived. At one point, she was said to have been sitting in the driveway of a residence “waiving her arms around and yelling.”
When Baxter County Sheriff’s personnel joined the trooper on the scene, they reported Carpenter was “so hysterical it was hard to understand her.” Carpenter was eventually placed in handcuffs and put into a sheriff’s office patrol car to be transported to the Baxter County Detention Center.
According to court records, Carpenter was first dropped off at an address along State Highway 126 North. It was at this address that Carpenter allegedly pulled a knife and began chasing the victim, identified as 56-year-old Randy Dilbeck of Gassville.
A witness said at one point during the encounter, Dilbeck picked up a piece of wood to defend himself, but Carpenter continued to chase him.
The victim eventually made it to a neighbor’s house located along County Road 720. Carpenter was reported to have stood outside the residence until officers showed up.
Carpenter refused to give officers on the scene an explanation for the alleged attack. Dilbeck told police he had stopped by the residence along Highway 126 North to see someone when Carpenter pulled the knife on him and began to chase him down the road.
Carpenter is free on $10,000 bond. She was ordered to reappear in circuit court November 15th.
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