A Mountain Home man charged with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive from South Carolina appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
The initial felony charge filed against 20-year-old Gage Ayden Pinn was reduced to a misdemeanor and he was sentenced to six months probation. Pinn’s attorney Ben Burnett of Mountain Home said his client knew the South Carolina fugitive but did not know the man was running from the law. He said other people involved in the event backed up the story.
The capture of the fugitive began on February 22 when the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a woman saying her ex-boyfriend, Juan Morales, had forced her and her two children to accompany him on his flight from South Carolina. Morales was reported to have several active arrest warrants issued in Spartanburg. The charges against him were reported to include second-degree domestic battery, threatening a public official and a felony probation violation.
The woman caller told the sheriff’s office Morales felt if he had her and the children with him, she could not give him away. She said they had been staying at an address along State Highway 101.
She said she had been sent out to buy food at one point, but Morales kept the two young children with him.
The victim used the errand to get in touch with law enforcement. As her time away from the residence lengthened, Morales began to send threatening texts to her saying he was going to hurt the children if she did not return immediately. Baxter County sheriff’s deputies contacted the woman who was parked on the 101 Cutoff near Highway 62/412 East and she told them her story.
By the time she made contact with the deputies, Morales began sending video texts to the woman. One showed Morales and the children in the toy aisle at the Mountain Home Walmart. Management at the business was contacted and the store was locked down. Officers made a number of sweeps of the building but did not contact Morales.
They began watching live feeds from security cameras and were able to spot and follow Morales as he made his way through the store. The lockdown had ended and Morales left the store and got into a white Dodge Ram crewcab truck with no bed.
The vehicle description was broadcast to area law enforcement. The mother of the children told officers the truck belong to Morales’ friend, Gage Pinn.
The truck was located at Pinn’s address and deputies spoke to Pinn. He is reported to have told them that Morales was not at the residence, but when they looked past Pinn who was standing in the door, they saw Morales partially concealing himself. Pinn was pulled out of the door and Morales was taken into custody.
Morales was reported to be “uncooperative and erratic” while being arrested.
The two children were found unharmed in the residence and returned to their mother.
According to Pinn’s attorney, Morales, using a different name, apparently lived in Mountain Home at one time and was said to have run a tattoo parlor.
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