A woman wanted by law enforcement in connection with an incident in May when a Gassville man was attacked and left with extensive injuries is in custody.
Online jail records show 35-year-old Jessica Lynn Wuest of Ash Flat was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center Friday afternoon.
Wuest was allegedly with 32-year-old Steven Mark Niziol of Norfork and 19-year-old Jonathan Cole Smith Jr. of Mountain Home when the Gassville man was left with contusions and abrasions about his neck, face and head, loose teeth, pain in his rib cage area and a loss of hearing in his left ear. Medical personnel on the scene recommended he go to the hospital but he declined because he did not have health insurance.
Photos: Steven Mark Niziol and Jonathan Cole Smith Jr.
The victim told police he had been working in his backyard when he went into his residence to take a short break. It was then he said two men he did not know jumped him. He also reported seeing a female he did know exit his bedroom carrying his .22-caliber rifle and ammunition for the gun. He told investigators none of the three people had permission to be on his property.
He said he believed the trio entered his home through the back door while he was involved with his yard work.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the suspects made the victim empty his pockets and took his wallet and personal valuables as they discussed a debt the victim allegedly owed.
At one point, the victim said he was put into a shed on the property and while one of the males stood guard, the other male and the woman hooked up a trailer he owned to the vehicle they drove to the residence. He said they loaded items of his personal property onto the trailer.
Before the suspects left the man’s house, they were reported to have warned him if he told anyone about what had happened, they would return and kill him with his own rifle.
During the investigation, Niziol, Smith and Wuest were all named as suspects. Niziol was arrested by a Mountain Home Police officer after a traffic stop June 16. Smith was picked up a few days later and jailed. Law enforcement had continued to search for Wuest until Friday.
The three face felony counts of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, residential burglary, theft of property, theft of property (firearm), terroristic threatening, possession of firearms by certain persons and first-degree battery.
In addition, in separate cases Niziol was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison on drug-related charges and is now facing allegations stemming from his threat to kill a reserve deputy sheriff working in the Baxter County jail.
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