The final member of a trio that included a mother and son initially charged with residential burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court last Monday.
36-year-old Cory Scott Shelton pled guilty to his charges and was sentenced to six years probation.
The other two people charged in the incident, 58-year-old Lori Thorne and her son, 23-year-old Michael Thorne, have already pled to their charges.
The three were all arrested October 21 last year when they were found in a residence along Cooper Estates drive after Mountain Home Police responded to a reported break-in at the house located along Cooper Estates Drive.
PROPERTY MANAGER REPORTED
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 attempting 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.
The suspects all denied ownership of the pipe, so all were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
There is no indication in the incident report that those arrested gave any reason for being in the residence.
All three have past felony charges, including breaking or entering and drug possession.
In one of Lori Thorne’s residential burglary cases, opened in 2018, her arrest was made possible 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.
Michael Thorne pled guilty to modified charges of breaking and entering against him in August and was sentenced to six years in prison. The drug paraphernalia possession charge was dropped. He is an inmate at the Northeast Arkansas Communications Center in Osceola.
Lori Thorne, who was paroled serving time at the McPherson Unit of the state prison system in Newport on an earlier conviction, was sentenced to 12 months misdemeanor probation on the new charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. The residential burglary charge was dropped by the state.
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