A Mountain Home man charged with calling law enforcement and falsely reporting that a woman was trapped in his storage unit was due to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
He didn’t. He was in jail in Benton County. The Benton County jail log shows that 56-year-old Donald Ray Hall was arrested in late September in the Northwest Arkansas county.
According to the Benton County Sheriff’s office, Hall was charged with terroristic threatening and violations of a no contact order.
The jail log also shows that the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office has a hold on Hall.
BAXTER COUNTY CASE
In his Baxter County case, Hall made his initial circuit court appearance May 2. He proclaimed he was the “victim” of false charges and told the court he would represent himself.
That changed in late June when a Mountain Home attorney, Justin Downum, entered his appearance on Hall’s behalf.
Hall was arrested April 22 after he is alleged to have made the false report about the woman trapped in the storage unit along County Road 28.
When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, Hall said a person helping the unseen woman break into his unit shut the door and locked it, leaving her trapped inside.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the deputy could hear no movement in the unit, but the Mountain Home Fire Department was called and made entry.
CARRIED ON CONVERSATION
While waiting on the fire department to arrive, Hall was reported to be acting as if he was talking to someone inside the unit.
In the “conversation,” Hall kept saying for the woman allegedly trapped in the unit to call the person with the keys to return to the scene and let her out.
When entry was made into the unit, there was no one inside and Hall was arrested initially on charges of filing a false report.
When an inventory of Hall’s vehicle was made, deputies located drug paraphernalia in a duffel bag and marijuana in a green plastic bottle.
A blue glass pipe was also found containing a white residue that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Based on what was discovered during the vehicle inventory, drug-related charges were added to the false report charge.
Hall’s trial was set for Monday. Because of his incarceration in Benton County, his local case was continued until November 14.
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