Photo: Rolland Castle
A Marion County man, 46-year-old Rolland Castle of Yellville, has been sentenced to one year of supervised probation following a fight and arrest in the Marion County Library in April.
Castle entered a guilty plea to reduced charges of battery, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in Marion County Circuit Court earlier this month. He was originally charged with a felony battery count.
Judge Gordon Webb accepted the negotiated plea and ordered Castle to spend 30 days in the county jail on the disorderly conduct charge, with credit given for time served.
According to the probable cause affidavit, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the library after an employee reported a suspicious male, later identified as Castle. The employee advised Castle had visited the library the previous week, when he asked for a pen, went to a picture on the wall and placed a mark on it.
The employee said when Castle returned to the library, he was again acting suspicious.
Before deputies arrived, they were advised Castle had an active warrant from Marion County. At the library, as one deputy spoke to Castle, he began to walk to the front door. The second officer stepped in front of the Yellville man and advised him of the warrant for his arrest.
Castle reportedly told the officer he was not putting handcuffs on him, and he was not going.
With both patrons and employees in the library, one of the deputies continued to speak to Castle in an attempt to keep him calm. However, Castle began to argue, became irate and refused to go to jail.
When the deputies attempted to cuff Castle, he began fighting. During the altercation, he fell against a shelf, causing books to fall to the floor.
Castle was able to get his left arm free from one deputy and placed it around the second deputy’s neck. With Castle’s arm around his neck, the deputy picked him up off the floor and slammed him onto the ground causing him to release his grip. During the skirmish, the officer’s glasses were knocked off and broken.
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