Photo: Matthew Karl Butler
A man convicted of aggravated assault in Marion County in July is now being charged with the same crime in Baxter County.
Twenty-seven-year-old Matthew Karl Butler, who lists a Fayetteville address, appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and entered a not guilty plea to charges of aggravated assault and criminal mischief.
When asked about any arrangements he had made for legal representation, Butler first said he was attempting to contact a lawyer in Fayetteville, then told the court he was thinking of representing himself.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Butler was arrested Dec. 10 when Baxter County sheriff’s deputies were called to an address along Weyhmeyer Loop.
As the deputies were responding, it was reported that the situation was escalating. Butler was reported to have been armed with a knife and to have attempted to hit a relative with his vehicle.
The vehicle had been disabled and Butler was reported to have left the scene on foot.
A deputy made contact with Butler who had blood on his hands.
In both the Baxter and Marion County cases, Butler had used a knife and his vehicle as weapons, according to the probable cause affidavits.
A domestic situation involving a child is apparently the underlying cause of both violent events.
Butler and a woman, with whom he was in a relationship, are the parents of a 2-year-old female.
The daughter was at the residence of a relative on Weyhmeyer Loop when Butler indicated he was going to take the toddler.
Other relatives were called in to prevent the removal, resulting in Butler becoming even more upset.
At one point, Butler drew a knife and made threats, then changed to a baseball bat.
He is reported to have gotten into his vehicle, accelerated to a high rate of speed and swerved to hit a relative. He lost control of the vehicle, and it smashed into property on the lawn of the residence.
Family members and others report Butler has mental health issues. His sister said he had not slept in three days.
MARION COUNTY CHARGES
Butler was also accused of using his vehicle and a knife to threaten people at a residence along Summit Avenue in Bull Shoals in early February last year.
The new incident in Baxter County has triggered the filing of a petition to revoke Butler’s probation handed down in the 2020 case.
He was placed on 48 months probation in the Marion County case on July 13.
An officer from the Bull Shoals Police Department was called to the address about 10:30 p.m. to respond to the situation.
A number of people were in the front yard of the residence, and they reported the suspect had fled toward State Highway 178.
Flippin police, who were assisting with the call, encountered the suspect’s vehicle and notified the Bull Shoals officer that it could be on Cardinal Terrace.
The Bull Shoals officer arrived at the scene and removed Butler from the car at gunpoint.
During a search of the vehicle, drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana were found.
In addition, ammunition for a 9mm pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun was found to be in the car.
Butler denied a firearm had been involved in the incident on Summit Avenue. He said his weapons had been seized after a previous arrest for simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.
He did admit to smoking marijuana and drinking some alcohol several hours prior to the incident.
When the Bull Shoals officer returned to the scene, he spoke to witnesses who said they had seen Butler’s car in the neighborhood.
A couple identified as the parents of the woman with whom Butler had a child told officers the suspect had tried on multiple occasions to ram their car and run them down in the driveway.
They said at one point, Butler pulled into a neighbor’s driveway, exited his car and pointed a black object at them that they believed was a handgun. It was later determined to have been a knife.
The mother of Butler’s child said she was in fear for her life and the lives of her children. She said Butler had been served with an order of protection to keep him away from her and the children earlier in the day and had been angered by what he termed the untrue allegations the woman had made in the accompanying affidavit regarding his behavior.
Butler said when he left a residence in Flippin where he had been living in his vehicle, he did not intend to go to Bull Shoals.
He said he “ended up there” and was chased away by the former girlfriend’s parents. He denied trying to run over anyone or pointing a knife at anyone during the incident.
Butler was convicted on charges, including aggravated assault, possession of a controlled substance and violation of the order of protection in force at the time of the incident.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI