A Clarkridge man appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and pled not guilty to charges that he hindered the apprehension of two males who were running from the law after allegedly stealing property from a residence along County Road 99.
Fifty-four-year-old Ronald Mitchell, who lives in the area where the theft took place, is charged with lying to law enforcement officers who were looking for a pair of armed suspects in a theft case.
According to the probable cause affidavit the wanted men were eventually identified as 39-year-old Terry Shumate and 56-year-old Charles Cox.
According to the probable cause affidavit. Mitchell is said to have denied knowing the suspects, or of anyone who drove the type vehicle in which the two suspects fled.
It turned out Mitchell allegedly knew the answers to all the questions he was asked by law officers but chose to lie rather than divulge what he knew.
In fact, Mitchell is reported to have had Cox in the truck with him when he was stopped at one point by a Baxter County Sheriff’s Deputy.
Mitchell covered up by sayings the other man was a neighbor who had come to his house “to check on him due to what was going on.”
Mitchell said he was headed to the Dollar General Store to drop the neighbor off.
At the time of the encounter, the deputies did not have a description of the person who had been with Shumate.
One of the deputies later saw a picture of Cox in the booking files at the sheriff’s office and recognized him as the man who had been in the truck with Mitchell.
The incident that kicked off the large manhunt began on May 10, when the Baxter County Sheriffs office was contacted by a victim who said two men had stolen items from his property along County Road 99.
The victim reported the men had been in the residence, but Shumate later denied that was true. He said they thought the house was abandoned and only took items that were on the outside of the structure.
After the two suspects were caught in the act by the property owner, Shumate and Cox fled from the victim’s residence in a silver Chevrolet Malibu. The victim began chasing the vehicle.
At one point, Shumate is alleged to have stopped the get-away car and shot at the victim’s vehicle through the driver’s side
window. During an interview during his arrest, Shumate admitted he had shot at the tires on the victim’s vehicle in hopes of ending the chase.
The victim did continue to follow the suspects even after shots were fired at him. He gave up only when he eventually lost sight of the fleeing silver Chevrolet.
At some point, Shumate and Cox apparently went their separate ways. Shumate was reported to have barged into a mobile home occupied by a mother and her child. The residents in the mobile home were able to escape out the back door. Shumate barricaded himself in the residence.
The Special Response Team from the Mountain Home Police Department was called in to assist. After a stand-off, Shumate surrendered and was taken to the Baxter County Detention Center.
Cox was arrested at a residence in the Clarkridge area about five days after the incident.
Shumate’s charges include aggravated residential burglary, fleeing, aggravated assault, possession of firearms by a felon, endangering the welfare of a minor, possession of illegal drugs and paraphernalia to ingest the drugs.
Cox’s charges include residential burglary, aggravated assault, being a felon in possession of a handgun, and possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Both men face penalty enhancements since their record shows them to be habitual offenders.
Shumate and Cox are inmates in the Baxter County Detention Center. Mitchell is free on a $15,000 bond.
In addition to deputies from the Baxter County Sheriffs office and the Special Response Team from the Mountain Home Police Department, a canine tracking team from the North Central Unit of the state prison system and the sheriffs office helicopter were brought in to assist.
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