Photo: Austin Brice Helms
A Mountain Home man’s alleged association with firearms resulted in criminal charges being filed against him in both Baxter and Boone counties.
Twenty-one-year-old Austin Brice Helms appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday. It is scheduled to be his final appearance before his trial set for March 28.
His latest arrest came Dec. 4, 2020, when he was taken into custody by Baxter County deputies and booked into the detention center on a charge of aggravated robbery.
The charge stemmed from an alleged armed robbery involving three men, including Helms. They were reported to have gone to the Executive Inn on Sept. 14, 2020 and robbed a man they had met earlier in the evening.
The victim told police the three men brandished firearms. He said he gave the trio money, and they then loaded him up in a black pickup truck and drove him around town while making threats to kill him.
The victim said they finally returned to his motel room, and he gave the men more cash. The victim identified Helms as one of the robbers.
When Mountain Home police interviewed him, Helms claimed he did not have a weapon during the Executive Inn robbery but did admit he was involved in taking money from the victim and driving the man around town.
Helms had the victim’s cellphone and was reported to be using it as his own, when he was arrested in Boone County.
Helms has another open criminal case in Baxter County. In early December 2019, he was arrested and charged with having allegedly stolen firearms in his possession.
Mountain Home police officers were called to a local pawnshop Dec. 5, 2019, after Helms and an unidentified person came into the business to sell or trade two weapons suspected of being stolen.
Helms was charged with theft of property. He has pled not guilty to the charges.
The charges in Boone County stem from Helms allegedly being in possession of a .410 gage shotgun, with the barrel sawed off to an illegal length.
Possession of the weapon is a violation of the National Firearms Act that requires shotguns to have a barrel length of no less than 18 inches.
In addition to the weapons violation, Helms was charged with being in possession of drug paraphernalia.
A jury trial on the Boone County charges is now set for April 11, according to electronic court records.
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