Bryce McLester (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A rural Mountain Home man is accused of preventing a female from trying to leave his residence after an argument began between them. Twenty-two-year-old Bryce McLester is facing charges of third-degree assault on a family or household member and second-degree false imprisonment.
According to the incident report, a pair of Baxter County deputies were dispatched Thursday night to the residence on Little Road for a domestic disturbance. The deputies were advised by 911 dispatch the victim was outside the residence and hiding from the suspect, identified as McLester, who was armed with a firearm.
One deputy arrived and met a vehicle leaving the scene. He stopped the vehicle and made contact with McLester, and a Mountain Home officer arrived to assist. The officer stated he was able to observe a rifle in the back seat and a handgun near the driver’s seat.
McLester followed the authorities’ command to exit his vehicle, and the weapons were secured. McLester reportedly admitted to losing control of himself but wouldn’t go into detail, and he was taken into custody and detained in the back of the deputy’s patrol unit.
The second deputy stated he was unable to locate the victim. The deputies and the officer searched further, and she was located near the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s Baxter County headquarters. The victim was reportedly struggling to breathe due to her Asthma being worked up.
The victim claimed she attempted to leave the residence after an argument began, but McLester blocked her from exiting for nearly 10 minutes. She stated she convinced McLester she needed her Asthma inhaler from her vehicle, and he initially let her go to her vehicle, but he then blocked her from entering it.
The victim claims she went back inside the residence and locked herself in the bathroom to call 911. McLester allegedly kicked in the door, threw an unknown object at her and took her car keys.
The victim states they went back outside, and McLester retrieved his handgun from his vehicle and went back in the residence saying he was going to harm himself. After a short while, he came back out without the gun, and the argument continued. McLester reportedly went back inside to retrieve the firearm, and that’s when she ran into the woods. The victim’s keys were located in McLester’s possession when he was detained.
McLester was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center and released nearly four hours later on a bond of $980.
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