An Ava resident, 47-year-old Darrell W. Gunter, is being held in the Ozark County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond after he allegedly climbed a tree, entered an Ozark County woman’s house without her knowledge and waited with her firearm for her to enter the room.
Gunter is charged with first-degree burglary, stalking and armed criminal action.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins received a call September 9th from a woman reporting a residential burglary and violation of an order of protection.
She told the officer she had dropped her child off at a family member’s house and returned home to get ready for work. After coming inside, she laid the gun she was carrying on the kitchen counter and went into another room to get ready for work. When she walked back into the kitchen, Gunter was reportedly standing in the room holding the gun.
The woman then went to Gunter and hugged him, attempting to reason with him out of fear. She asked him how he got into the house, and he reportedly said he climbed a tree outside and entered through a balcony door. Gunter voluntarily gave up the firearm, and the woman drove him to his vehicle, which he had hidden in a nearby field. The woman left him at his vehicle and immediately contacted the sheriff’s office. Officers located and arrested Gunter at a residence on Fifth Street in Ava.
Gunter had previously been arrested on August 30th for violating an ex-parte order of protection, which ordered Gunter to have no contact with the woman, including through text, email, phone or by social media. He was also banned from being on the premises or within 120 feet of the womans house.
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