A woman charged with stealing a golf cart and taking it on a lengthy “joy ride” along major highways in the area appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court August 25.
Thirty-seven-year-old Clarissa Edmondson pled guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle and was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail.
She apologized for her actions and said she was “very grateful” that leniency had been shown in her case.
On August 4, a Mountain Home police officer responded to the Sycamore Springs Senior Living Community along Jerry Baker Lane near where the west end of the bypass meets U.S. Highway 62 to investigate the reported theft of a golf cart taken from a parking lot.
The owner said the cart was burgundy and a recent model. She said she had parked the cart and left the keys and her garage door opener inside.
An employee at Sycamore Springs interacted with the woman who allegedly took the cart earlier in the day and described her for police.
She was said to be wearing a teal-colored shirt, Capri pants and tie-dyed flip flops.
The woman and the cart were last seen headed toward U.S. Highway 62.
The responding officer began to patrol the area to try and locate cart and driver. He was informed at one point that a Baxter County Deputy Sheriff intercepted the woman and the cart at an address along Buzzard Roost Road.
It is estimated that Edmondson’s unauthorized trip in the golf cart covered about 5.7 miles.
She was identified and taken to the Baxter County jail.
Relatives of the owner arrived on scene and took possession of the stolen golf cart. There was no mention that it had been damaged while Edmondson was on her ride.
Edmondson has earlier brushes with the law on her record.
In March of 2016, she was charged with DWI, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and driving while her license was suspended for DWI in Baxter County.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Edmondson’s vehicle left the roadway, knocked down a mailbox, ran into bush at another residence and came to a stop after smashing into a porch roof support at a residence along Dillon Drive.
Investigators found no evidence of braking along the path Edmondson’s vehicle took.
She was told not to leave the scene but left anyway and went to a residence close to the accident scene.
She was described as being “out of it” and not appearing to be “in her right mind.”
When officers went to the residence along Pioneer Trail that Edmondson had entered, it took about a half hour for someone to come to the door.
A male told the officers Edmondson had been the one driving the car and that she had told him not to answer the door because she had been in a traffic accident.
The man also said Edmondson had been carrying an air duster can when she came into the residence.
Edmondson denied using an air duster or any other substance to become intoxicated. She said she had used the air duster earlier to clean off a table.
When her record was checked, Edmondson was found to have several DWI convictions.
She pled guilty to her earlier charges in July 2018 and was sentenced to time served in the county jail.
In mid-February 2021, She was charged with hitting and spitting on staff at the Carroll County jail.
According to the probable cause affidavit in that case, pepper spray had to be used to bring her under control.
She pled no contest and was sentenced to 12 months-probation.
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