A Mountain Home man arrested early Friday morning in connection with a break-in at a store in Gamaliel is now facing additional charges related to two shooting incidents.According to a probable cause affidavit released Friday afternoon, 27-year-old Gavin Willis Stutts is charged with felony counts of a terroristic act and aggravated assault in connection with a report of shots being fired from a vehicle into a residence along Bryant Street on May 3rd.
In the shooting incident, five rounds struck the residence, penetrating the front entry door, living room windows, and interior walls.
A witness was able to obtain a partial license plate number and vehicle description. A vehicle matching the description and license plate was later located unoccupied at Walmart in Mountain Home. Ammo casings could be observed through the windows.
The owner, Stutts, was contacted, came to the truck and provided consent to search. Offices located empty .9mm casings and unspent ammo matching the spent casings.
Stutts took officers to his residence on Lucerne in Mountain Home, provided two pistols to the officers, a .22 caliber and a .9mm.
Stutts told officers he had become intoxicated, gone to his parent’s farm and practiced shooting. He said he did not remember shooting at any residence and thought he had just passed out at Walmart. He said he did not know the people at the residence where the shooting occurred and had no reason to be angry or harm anyone there.
The victims of the residence on Bryant Street were not home at the time of the shooting. They reported the damage when they returned home later that night. No connection could be made between Stutts and the occupants of the home.
Early Friday morning, Mountain Home Police received a call of shots fired from a vehicle into the same residence on Bryant Street. Officers found two new bullet holes, one through the wall and one through a bedroom window.
A resident at the home told officers he had a previous relationship with Stutts’ wife. He told law enforcement the relationship was a few years prior, and he had no contact with her since. Stutts and his wife were separated at the time.
Officers located Stutts at his home early Friday morning. He appeared to be intoxicated and was located with his mother-on-law sitting in his car.
Stutts was arrested at this point by Baxter County Sheriff’s officers for commercial burglary and theft of property.
Earlier Friday, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said Stutts had been arrested for an early morning break-in at a store in Gamaliel. Sheriff Montgomery said Stutts allegedly broke into Sandra D’s Grocery Store on Highway 101 and stole beer and cigarettes.
The sheriff said authorities were alerted by the store owner, who lives adjacent to the store, when her dogs started barking at 2:20 Friday morning and she saw a man inside the store.
The man fled the scene before deputies arrived but video footage from the store’s security system showed the suspect had thrown a rock through the front door to gain entry. Based on the video from the store, deputies believed the suspect was Stutts.
The Mountain Home man is being held without bond.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI