2 of 3 charged in road rage incident back in court

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Photos: (from left) Heath Freeman, Miranda Kim Worthey and Dylan Sanders

Two of the three people involved in a road rage incident in late July, during which a shot was allegedly fired, made appearances in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.

One of those charged, 30-year-old Heath Freeman of Norfork, will change his plea in early December, according to his attorney, Justin Downum.

According to the probable cause affidavit, two men contacted the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office to report they were traveling east on U.S. Highway 62/412 just outside of Gassville when someone in a tan vehicle traveling the same direction fired a weapon, and the two believed they were shooting at them.

According to court records, investigators allege the trouble began when the vehicle occupied by the two victims and the suspects’ car began passing each other in Gassville, leading to cursing and then the alleged gunshot.

Mountain Home Police got behind the suspects’ vehicle and pulled it over on the Sheid-Hopper Bypass at Rossi Road.

Three people were in the car from which the shot allegedly came — Freeman, 39-year-old Miranda Kim Worthey of Calico Rock and 27-year-old Dylan Sanders of Oxford. Sanders was reported to have been driving. Worthey, who owned the vehicle, said the three were returning from Oklahoma when the incident happened. She is also due back in court on Dec. 5.

All three were charged with aggravated assault and have entered not guilty pleas in past court appearances.

The three were fairly tight lipped when initially questioned, both when they were stopped by MHPD and again at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.

Freeman said he wanted a lawyer. Sanders admitted to cursing at the occupants of the other vehicle and said the victims were doing the same. Worthey said she was asleep in the back seat, but later admitted to being tossed from side-to-side during the incident.

Sanders said the driver of the other vehicle kept passing him like he wanted to race, and the people in the other car flipped them off.

As they were being questioned, the trio did not admit nor deny a shot was fired from their vehicle.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Freeman allegedly spoke to a jailer after being taken to the Baxter County Detention Center and told him he “would take the charges, all the charges, just let the other two go.”

Investigators informed Freeman about his alleged statement to the jail staffer and asked if he had changed his mind about giving details of the incident. Freeman said no and repeated his request for a lawyer, ending the interview.

When Freeman was brought back to the jail from the building housing CID offices, a jailer mentioned what Freeman had allegedly said about being the shooter and Sanders — who was nearby — threw a cup and fork at Freeman.

Investigators found a Glock .40-caliber pistol, a Charter Arms .22 magnum pistol, a Smith and Wesson .38-caliber pistol and “brass knuckles” in the car occupied by the suspects.

No damage was reported to the vehicle occupied by the victims, and no one was injured in the incident.

Both Freeman and Sanders have had situations where alleged threats or actual use of a weapon were involved.

Freeman was arrested in Izard County in late 2017 for shooting a man. Freeman said the man had first hit him with a club, stick or some other object. He told officers his only reaction was to shoot his attacker.

Investigators reported Freeman was covered in blood from a laceration on the left side of his head. He was transported by ambulance to a Calico Rock medical facility for treatment.

Freeman told officers he had run into the woods to hide and had called law enforcement and “waited for deputies to come get him.”

The victim also received treatment for a gunshot wound entering his front right shoulder and exiting out the back.

Eventually, the charge was dropped from aggravated assault to third-degree battery, and Freeman was placed on probation for 12 month. His .38-caliber pistol seized as evidence at the time of the incident was returned to him, according to court records.

Recently, Sanders’ 59-year-old mother, who lives in Fulton County, filed for an order of protection to keep her son away from her. The mother alleges Sanders had threatened to come to her home and choke her to death.

She further alleges Sanders “has had violent tendencies involving other individuals in the past.” In her petition, she mentions an incident “several years ago” when Sanders is alleged to have threatened a man with a gun in the Colton’s restaurant parking lot in Mountain Home.

Sanders’ mother said she believes her son is capable of doing “physical bodily harm to me.”

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