Left to right: Cory Shelton, Michael Thorne and Lori Thorne (Photos courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
Three people, including a mother and her son, charged with residential burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia made appearances in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Each member of the trio was at a different location:
Fifty-eight-year-old Lori Thorne appeared on a video hookup from the McPherson Unit of the state prison system at Newport where she is serving time on an earlier conviction.
Her son, 21-year-old Michael Thorne, appeared on video from the Baxter County Detention Center.
The third person involved in the same incident with the Thorne’s, 36-year-old Cory Scott Shelton, appeared in the courtroom.
During her appearance, Lori Thorne asked Circuit Judge John Putman if he would say hello to her son for her when his case came before the court, and the judge obliged.
It has been announced that Michael Thorne rejected a plea offer from the state and wants to go before a jury.
The three were all arrested October 21 last year when they were found in a residence along Cooper Estates drive.
POLICE RESPOND
Mountain Home police responded to a call reporting a possible break-in at the Cooper Estates Drive property.
The property manager called police after he saw a light on in the house and someone moving around inside.
He told police no one should have been in the residence.
The property manager watched the house until police arrived in case someone tried to flee.
MICHAEL THORNE TRIES TO RUN
When police arrived on scene, they announced their presence and instructed anyone inside the house to come out with their hands up.
An officer was watching the back of the house when Michael Thorne was reported to have exited a rear door and attempted to flee the scene. He was stopped and put in hand restraints.
MOTHER TURNS ARGUMENTATIVE
The next person encountered was Lori Thorne who came down the stairs. According to the probable cause affidavit, she was told multiple times to put her hands in the air and exit the building.
She was said to have complied slowly.
Once outside, the officer ordered Lori Thorne to get on her knees and then on her stomach. She became argumentative and did not follow commands to lie on the ground.
Due to a concern that more suspects might still be in the house, Lori Thorne was “physically placed in the prone position.”
After the mother and son had been taken into custody, two officers entered the residence, ordering anyone left inside to surrender.
At that point, Shelton called out saying he was coming down the stairs. He was reported to have followed the officers’ commands.
The three intruders were placed in patrol cars, and officers began to search the residence. They reported finding a glass-smoking pipe with a burned residue in the front room.
All three of the suspects denied ownership of the pipe, so all were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
A number of what were described as “display model cellphones were also located.”
There is no indication in the incident report that those arrested gave any reason for being in the residence, or shed any light on the presence of the cellphones.
Bond for each was set at $25,000. All three have past felony charges, including breaking or entering and drug possession.
In one of Lori Thorne’s residential burglary cases, opened on 2018, her arrest was made after a DNA sample on a cigarette left on the floor of the burglarized home was identified as hers.
She was living with a relative behind the house that was robbed at the time of the crime.
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