Photos courtesy of Marion County Sheriff’s Office
A suspect in a recent shooting incident in Marion County has been apprehended along with a female following a high speed chase on Friday that ended in Baxter County. Thirty-one-year-old Leigh Blackmon of Flippin is in the Marion County Law Enforcement Center, and 29-year-old Chelsea Holland is in the Baxter County Detention Center.
According to Marion County Sheriff Gregg Alexander, Blackmon was recognized by deputies as he was operating a motorcycle on Fallen Ash Road. When they attempted to stop Blackmon, he allegedly accelerated and fled. The chase continued into Baxter County and came to an end at the Lithia Creek Bridge on Arkansas Highway 126. Blackmon and his passenger, identified as Holland, were both taken into custody.
Sheriff Alexander says the Marion County dispatch center received a call on the evening of evening Oct. 15 from an unidentified female stating her friend had been shot. She stated she was driving near the Baxter Health Ambulance Facility in Yellville where she was directed to take the victim to the facility for treatment. The victim, identified as 46-year-old Michael Vetor, was transported by ambulance to Baxter Health and later transferred to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock for further treatment.
Blackmon was identified as a suspect, and arrest warrants were issued for first-degree battery and possession of firearms by certain persons. The online jail log shows he also has a failure to appear warrant and a hold for Baxter County.
The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office shows Holland is facing a felony count of theft by receiving and a bond revocation. Online court records show she was charged with two felony counts of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and a felony count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond is set at $20,000.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by dispatchers in Marion and Baxter counties; officers from the Flippin, Gassville, Lakeview, Mountain Home and Cotter police departments; Baxter County deputies; Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol troopers; the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ North Central K-9 Unit and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wardens.
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