A Gassville man accused of assaulting a woman in mid-June, returning to her home in early-July and threatening violence unless she signed a document asking that charges filed against him in the initial assault case be dropped appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and entered a guilty plea to reduced charges and was sentenced to six years probation.
Fifty-eight-year-old Randy Dilbeck was first charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threatening stemming from the attack on the victim in June 2021. A second case was filed was filed after Dilbeck was reported to have returned to the victim’s home the next month.
In mid-June, Gassville police were called to an apartment complex to respond to a domestic altercation report. The victim, who referred to Dilbeck as her friend, said he had been at her residence, became angry “and just went crazy” when she told him she wanted to be alone that evening and asked him to leave and go to his home.
Dilbeck was reported to have pinned the woman in her chair and slapped her multiple times about her head and face, causing her nose to be cut and her glasses broken.
The victim told police she was punched in the mid-section three times and that Dilbeck choked her. She told investigators she believed that if visitors had not come to her apartment during the attack, Dilbeck would have killed her.
In the July attack, the victim said she was doing laundry, heard a noise, turned and saw that Dilbeck had entered her home.
She told investigators Dilbeck wanted her to sign a document asking that charges against him filed after the first incident be dropped. The victim said Dilbeck threatened her in a loud voice and continued to intimidate her until she signed the request.
After she had signed, Dilbeck left the residence and the victim called police. The woman said she was afraid of Dilbeck and believes he will come back to her apartment and kill her if something is not done to protect her.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI