Photo: Jeremiah Dean Partee
A Baxter County man, 42-year-old Jeremiah Dean Partee, who led police on a high-speed chase on icy roads in Mountain Home earlier this month, before being apprehended, made his initial court appearance Thursday.
Partee, appearing via video hookup from the Baxter County Detention Center, entered a not guilty plea in three open cases locally. His alleged crimes have ties to Howell County, where charges have also been filed.
Court documents released this past week provide further details on the high-speed chase beginning on Arkansas Highway 5 North involving Partee’s fleeing car being struck by a patrol unit. Despite the collision, he continued on, with his car reportedly striking another vehicle, ripping off its bumper.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 16, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office was advised to be on the lookout (BOLO) for a reported stolen vehicle from Missouri.
At the time of Partee’s arrest the next day, Sheriff John Montgomery said in a news release the Baxter County man was a suspect in connection with motor vehicle thefts in Missouri and had reportedly eluded Ozark County authorities after wrecking a stolen vehicle.
The day after the BOLO was issued, Montgomery’s office received an anonymous tip advising the reported stolen vehicle was stuck at Partee’s residence along County Road 27.
Officers responded to the information, with Lt. Rick Lucy meeting a vehicle matching the description of the one reported stolen in Missouri traveling toward Arkansas Highway 5 North.
Despite Lt. Lucy activating his emergency lights, the vehicle did not stop. Near the highway’s intersection with Cannie Baker Road, Lucy ran his patrol unit into the fleeing car, causing about $3,000 in damages to the law enforcement vehicle.
Montgomery’s release notes Partee’s vehicle allegedly slid on the ice and into a ditch, where he was able to extricate the car and continued his flight from justice.
The probable cause document picks up the details at this point noting Partee’s fleeing vehicle reportedly accelerated to speeds around 80 miles-per-hour headed toward Mountain Home, with “heavy snow on the ground and ice at the time of this incident.”
At the intersection of Arkansas Highway 5 and Hospital Drive, Partee’s car ran a red traffic light striking another motorist’s vehicle, ripping off its bumper. The unidentified motorist was not injured, with the vehicle receiving approximately $2,500 in damages.
Partee continued on, running a second red traffic light at Arkansas Highways 5 and 201 North, as well as a third one at State 5 and U.S. Highway 62B.
On First Street, Partee lost control of his vehicle, wrecking it in a yard and causing it to become stuck in the snow.
He exited the vehicle and reached The Dels Apartments on U.S. Highway 62B. He was observed trying multiple doors to the apartments before successfully entering one of the units, where he was taken into custody.
The vehicle Partee was driving was reported stolen in Ozark County.
The Ozark County Times reports a sheriff’s deputy became involved in the case on Feb. 16 when an East Wind Community member reported a vehicle had come flying through their gate, and the truck and trailer were stuck in the (Lick) creek.
The deputy said he followed tracks in the snow from the truck and trailer along the creek and soon spotted a man on the dirt road.
The deputy said the man took off on foot, and he followed him. With a hefty lead and acres of wooded area to hide, the officer soon lost sight of the man, and the foot pursuit ended.
It’s thought that, after escaping from the truck in Lick Creek, the driver, believed to be Partee, trudged through the snow-covered woods and eventually returned to Highway 160, where he crossed the roadway and made it to the home of Brian Corbin.
Corbin’s father, who lives in another house on the property, told the Times his son responded to a knock on the door and found a man — bleeding and wet, with possible frostbite and an injured hand — asking for help. The man, believed to be Partee, said he’d had an accident. He told Corbin he lived nearby and asked him if he could help him get home.
“So Brian, Good Samaritan, loaded him in his old car,” his father said, referring to his son’s 2005 Ford Taurus. “He started it up, and for some reason, they decided they needed a blanket. Brian went back to the house to get the blanket, and the guy left in the car.”
Partee then allegedly drove the stolen Taurus into Baxter County.
Partee is on parole out of Missouri, but assigned to the Mountain Home Probation/Parole Office, since he lives in Baxter County.
Following Partee’s arrest, the West Plains Police Department (WPPD) also issued a news release.
The WPPD report noted over the last four days, several reports have been filed for stolen vehicles and trailers in West Plains and Howell, Ozark and Baxter counties.
Photo: Recovered truck reported stolen in Baxter County
In West Plains, a trailer was stolen from Endurance Church and recovered by the Howell County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, two trailers were stolen from Hirsch Feed & Farm Supply, and one was taken from South 63 Motors in West Plains.
Photo: Recovered trailer
Prior to Partee’s arrest, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office contacted the WPPD with information on the vehicle used in the trailer theft at Hirsch Feed & Farm Supply. Baxter County law enforcement stated the vehicle was possibly stolen from within its jurisdiction but did not have a suspect in the theft.
When Partee was later interviewed by WPPD investigators, he allegedly implicated himself in stealing the trailers and vehicles and gave information to investigators leading to the recovery of a majority of the stolen property.
Photo: Trailer reported stolen and later found in Lick Creek in Ozark County
In Baxter County, Partee is facing charges in three cases for which he entered not guilty pleas Thursday.
Case #1:
– Possession of drug paraphernalia, Class D felony (in connection with an arrest on Jan. 26 at his residence);
Case #2:
– Theft of property, Class B felony;
– Second-degree forgery, Class C felony; and
– Theft by receiving (trailer) over $5,000, Class C felony;
Case #3:
– Theft by receiving (auto) over $5,000, Class C felony;
– Fleeing (by means of a motor vehicle), Class D felony;
– Reckless driving, Class B misdemeanor;
– Residential burglary, Class B felony; and
– Habitual Offender Act (more than four previous felony convictions).
Partee remains in the Baxter County Detention Center, with bonds on the three cases set at $51,500.
In Howell County, Partee is facing charges in four cases.
Case #1:
– Stealing – motor vehicle/watercraft/aircraft, Class D felony
Case #2:
– Stealing – $750 or more, Class D felony
Case # 3:
– Stealing – motor vehicle/watercraft/vehicle, Class D felony
Case #4:
– Stealing – $750 or more, Class D felony (two counts)
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