A case of apparent road rage resulted in James Barnes of Mountain Home receiving five years probation after pleading no contest to a charge of aggravated assault.
The sentence was handed down during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
The 30-year-old Barnes was arrested in mid-October last year after he allegedly pointed a gun at another motorist.
According to the incident report filed by the Mountain Home Police Department, the victim was riding a motorcycle west on U.S. Highway 62/412 when Barnes cut him off, almost hitting him and then would not let him pass. The victim said when he pulled beside the van; Barnes allegedly pointed a pistol at him. The victim said the weapon was close enough that he could have grabbed it. He described it as a black handgun.
At the time of the incident, Barnes told police he was afraid of the victim and showed him the gun but denied pointing it at him. A handgun fitting the description given by the victim was recovered from Barnes and he was arrested without incident.
Barnes was sentenced under the provisions of Act 346, meaning if he stays out of trouble during his probation period, he can petition the court to have his record sealed.
33-year-old Kyle Patoka of Mountain Home was given 10 years probation and ordered to participate in an anger management program after he pled guilty to aggravated assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to investigative reports, Patoka and his brother both returned to their mothers home on Cody Creek Drive in late January. Both men were reportedly intoxicated.
Kyle Patoka began threatening his brother with a handgun and knocked the tail lights out of his brothers vehicle with a baseball bat. The mother told police that Kyle Patoka had also made threats toward her and indicated he intended to harm himself.
Clinton Moyer of Flippin was given six years probation after he pled guilty to drug-related charges.
The 24-year-old Moyer was picked up in late January as part of a search by Mountain Home police for two people who had outstanding felony warrants. They went to a room at a local motel where they were told the subjects might be located.
There were a number of people in the room, including Moyer. When officers searched him, they found a zippered case containing several plastic bags with a substance identified as methamphetamine. The case also contained syringes, straws, a spoon with residue and other plastic bags.
Kenneth Freeman, II, who now lives in Paragould, entered a no contest plea to charges that he took cash, tools and a credit card from a Mountain Home business where he once worked.
The investigation into the thefts was launched in June 2014 when his employer called the Baxter County Sheriffs Office to report the thefts. According to investigative records, Freeman had left the business owners a voicemail apologizing for violating their trust.
Freemen, who had been living and working in Paragould since being fired from the local business, turned himself in on the theft charge in early March last year.
The 30-year-old Freeman was given six years probation and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the business owners. In late June, Freeman also entered a no contest plea to theft charges stemming from his failure to return turn out gear issued to him when he was member of the Henderson volunteer fire department.
The department made a number of attempts to contact Freeman about the gear but received no response. When Freeman was eventually contacted, he admitted to having the gear at one time, but said that the coat and pants had been ruined when battery accident was accidently spilled on then. He said that he still had the boots, but the helmet was at another location.
According to court records, Freeman made no attempt to return the boots or helmet, or to compensate the fire department for the lost of any of the equipment.
The six-year probation sentence he was given last month in the fire gear case will run concurrent with the sentence handed down Thursday in the theft case. Judge Gordon Webb also ordered Freeman to pay the Henderson fire department $1,500 for the turn out gear.
Brian Glade of Flippin was put on probation for five years after pleading guilty to drug charges and traffic violations.
The 26-year-old Glade was pulled over by a Mountain Home Police officer just before 9 p.m. on January 12th when he was observed driving down the enter of the roadway on First Street. The vehicle he was driving appeared to have no taillights.
When the officer began talking with Glade he reported that Glad seemed impaired. He also found a bag containing more than three grams of a white crystalline substance thatfield-tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as scales and baggies.
Jason Ray White of Yellville was given four years probation after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine. The 19-year-old White was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by Mountain Home Police just before 11 p.m. on May 17th.
A consent to search the vehicle was given and a backpack was found to contain a small amount of what field-tested positive for methamphetamine. White told the officer that the backpack was his.
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