Photo: Matthew Barnett
The arraignment of an Ozark County man, 32-year-old Matthew Barnett of Gainesville, is set for Jan. 14 on charges stemming from him allegedly jumping onto a lawn mower and repeatedly punching the driver, attempting to run the man over with his truck and smashing the victim’s weed trimmer into the ground.
The Ozark County Times reports Barnett has been charged with a felony count of third-degree assault and a misdemeanor count of second-degree property damage in connection with the incident.
The case stems from a Sept. 14 incident. Barnett was arrested on a warrant and released Dec. 18 after posting a $5,000 cash-only bond.
He could face a jail sentence of up to four years in prison if convicted of the crimes.
According to the probable cause statement, an Ozark County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of an altercation involving a vehicle and lawn mower at storage sheds located along U.S. Highway 160 and Missouri Highway 5 south just west of Gainesville.
The deputy’s reported he found the victim bleeding from a cut on his left check near his eye and with a swollen, bruised right cheek. The male victim also had a bleeding cut on his right hand.
The victim reportedly said he was mowing the grass at the storage units when Barnett, his former employee, drove past the sheds. When Barnett saw the victim mowing, he slammed on the vehicle’s brakes, bringing the truck to a skidding stop, turned it around in the roadway and entered the parking lot.
Barnett then reportedly exited the truck, jumped onto the mower with the victim and began punching him. The man said he drove the mower in a quick circle, throwing Barnett off the mower and onto the ground.
Barnett reportedly got up and hopped back onto the mower with the victim and began punching him again. The man jerked the mower in a circle again, throwing Barnett to the ground a second time.
The man said Barnett then went over to the victim’s truck, pulled out a weed trimmer and began smashing it into the ground.
Once the weed eater was broken, Barnett allegedly got back into his truck and attempted to run the victim over with the vehicle. He said he fled from Barnett, but the Gainesville man chased him around the area in the truck three or four times, attempting to run him over.
The victim said Barnett eventually left the parking lot, drove around the north side of the highway, and entered the lot again, chasing him in an attempt to run him over with the vehicle.
When the deputy went to Barnett’s house to speak with him, he reportedly observed abrasions on both knees, his back and had a black eye.
He reportedly told the deputy the victim had disrespected his wife and the man “needed his [expletive] kicked.”
Barnett then reportedly told the officer, “You better arrest me, because I’m going to do it again.”
Barnett was handcuffed and transported to the Ozark County jail.
A witness to the incident reportedly told law enforcement she observed a man fighting with the victim on his lawn mower and the damage to the weed trimmer. Sitting in her vehicle in an adjacent parking lot she said she saw a man, later identified as Barnett, get into a truck and chase the victim with the vehicle “at least three times around in his truck.”
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