Photo: Willy Jo Johnstone
A Stone County man has been arrested following a domestic assault incident in which a drumstick, hammer, golf club, belt, wooden club and a tire iron were all allegedly used as weapons against the female victim.
According to the probable cause affidavit, 43-year-old Willy Jo Johnstone of Mountain View is being held on a $150,000 bond in connection with felony charges of terroristic threatening, false imprisonment and first-degree domestic battery.
The arrest follows Stone County deputies responding to a residence along Luber Cut-off Road Aug.1 in reference to a domestic in progress. While the three deputies were en route, the victim escaped from the residence and met them at the intersection with Arkansas Highway 9.
The victim had visible injuries to her head, face, neck, stomach, back, shoulders, both legs and arms, throat, left foot and right hip.
The woman told the deputies the assault occurred after she told Johnstone he needed rehab and to get clean. She said the fight had lasted most of the day, with Johnstone refusing to let her leave the residence.
In addition to allegedly being assaulted with the various items used as weapons, the woman said she was choked until she almost passed out, with Johnstone reportedly saying he should just kill her. She said he had stomped her, kicked her in the head and struck her with his fist in the face and head. A later examination at the Stone County Medical Center indicated bruises on the victim’s hip with a distinctive mark of a golf club putter, whelps consistent with being struck with a drumstick, what appeared to be a boot print on her arm and marks on her ribs and stomach consistent with being struck with a tire iron.
The victim declined an ambulance and drove herself to the hospital, where she was treated and released.
At the residence, Johnstone reportedly barricaded himself in the home. With an active warrant on Johnstone for felony assault and other domestic-related charges from an alleged incident on July 10, the deputies gained entry into the residence and took the Mountain View man into custody, after a brief struggle.
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