William Smith (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A hearing on motions filed by a man arrested in mid-July after making alleged threats to kill a number of people was canceled after he withdrew the motions during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last Monday.
Sixty-three-year-old William Eugene Smith, who has listed addresses in Mountain View as well as several other locations, has entered a not guilty plea to three counts of aggravated assault of a family or household member, being a felon in possession of a firearm and violation of a protective order.
Smith had earlier said that “for the time being” he wanted to represent himself and told Circuit Judge John Putman he was familiar with the law and has someone who can help guide him through the process. On Monday, Smith asked that a lawyer be appointed to defend him, that the motions be withdrawn and that his case be continued.
Acting as his own attorney, Smith filed several lengthy handwritten motions in the case, including one to dismiss the charges against him and another asking the court to reduce his bond.
He has also filed a federal court lawsuit naming Sheriff John Montgomery, a member of the jail staff and Deputy Sheriff Jordan Ikari as defendants.
Ikari is the deputy who was on scene and arrested Smith in July. Smith alleges excess force was used against him causing him to sustain various injuries.
He has outlined numerous complaints in the federal suit regarding the arrest and his treatment at the jail, including the fact that he was not provided a mattress.
The defendants in Smith’s suit have filed an answer on the federal suit denying the allegations.
THE ALLEGATIONS
In his circuit court case, there are two separate but related events in which Smith has been reported to be intoxicated and violent – one in Stone County and one in Baxter County.
The victims in both events have family connections, and Smith and one of the female victims had a dating relationship and shared a residence in Stone County at one time, according to the probable cause affidavit.
BAXTER COUNTY INCIDENT
A Baxter County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the General Store in Big Flat shortly before 8 p.m. July 13 to meet one of the victims involved in the incident in this county.
The victim said Smith was heavily intoxicated and had been walking around in the victim’s stepfather’s house located along Arkansas Highway 14 East waiving a gun around and threatening to kill everyone.
The victim said at one point, he and Smith went outside to the front yard and stood by a truck. At that point, Smith was said to have made a specific threat to kill him, pointed the gun at his temple and ended up firing two shots into the grass.
After the shooting occurred, the man told officers he left the scene and headed to the General Store in Big Flat to get help from the police.
While the victim met with law officers at the store, he sent a text message to his stepfather back at the residence asking if Smith was still armed and making threats.
The stepfather texted back that “if the law is coming, tell the police to come in, guns drawn, do not knock.”
Several lawmen, including sheriffs deputies from Baxter and Stone counties, a park ranger and Arkansas state trooper converged on the residence.
The Baxter County deputy sheriff positioned himself on the left side of the front door and gave commands for Smith to come out of the house with his hands up.
Smith is reported to have opened the door approximately halfway, and the deputy saw him still holding a handgun in his left hand away from his body.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Smith was given a command to drop the weapon and come out with his hands up, and all of the officers on scene were told Smith continued to have possession of the handgun.
It took some time and a number of commands for Smith to finally comply with instructions to disarm himself and surrender.
Smith was then told to lay down on the ground but said he did not intend to obey. The Baxter County deputy holstered his weapon, walked over to Smith and “assisted” him to the ground.
He was then taken into custody.
When lawmen talked to the owner of the house, he described Smith as “out of his mind threatening to kill everyone all day long while walking around and waiving the pistol all over the place.”
A woman, described as the aunt of one of the victims, said Smith had threatened “he would put a peephole” in her with a bullet from his pistol.
The woman said she had an order of protection to keep Smith away from her stemming from an earlier violent incident at a residence the two shared in Stone County. She said she had moved into the residence in Baxter County just over a month ago and was not aware that Smith was already living there. It was reported he had been staying at the house for about three months.
STONE COUNTY INCIDENT
The 54-year-woman who took out the order of protection had been involved in a relationship with Smith. The pair shared a home along Highway 87. The protective order was obtained in Stone County after a violent incident in January.
On Jan. 6, a number of police officers converged on a residence along Highway 87 where the woman and Smith lived.
They found the woman with a pulse but unresponsive and placed her in an ambulance. After she was inside, she opened her eyes and began talking to those in the ambulance. She said she was “playing possum” while she was in Smith’s presence so he would leave her alone.
She described Smith’s attacks and threats and reported he was heavily intoxicated, “throwing thing around the house.” At one point, he was said to have pushed the woman out of her recliner – causing her to fall and hit her head on a coffee table.
The victim said when her head initially hit the table, she was actually out for a short time. She said when she woke up, Smith was taking her pulse and expressing dissatisfaction she had one.
The woman described what happened during the time she was faking being knocked out. She said Smith kept yelling that he hoped he had killed her. She said he also hit her in the head a number of times with a metal dog food bowl and kicked her in the back.
The owner of the house in the Big Flat area told investigators he thought he had an agreement with Smith to move along after a few days, but Smith did not leave, and the owner said he was too afraid to ask him to get out.
Even on the way to the Baxter County Detention Center, Smith was reported to have continue to spew threats. He said he intended to kill everyone in the jail and warned “nobody had better start anything with me.”
In checking his record, it was determined that Smith was a felon in multiple states, according to the probable cause affidavit.
His bond is set at $100,000.
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