Ryan James Lindsey of Norfork, who faces the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the murder of 35-year-old Cody Stradford in December 2020, has picked up new charges stemming from violent outbursts and other offenses committed in the Baxter County Detention Center.
According to probable cause affidavits, one set of new charges stemmed from an incident on December 17, followed by others two days later.
On December 17, jailers and three sheriff’s deputies conducted a search of Lindsey’s cell. The search turned up a number of contraband items.
Those items included photos with “explicit content,” a large bag containing almost 200 pills of medications prescribed for Lindsey but not taken, a broken shaving razor, multiple blankets and the white uniform provided to him when he was an inmate in the Arkansas prison system.
In addition, a metal nail file, multiple pieces of broken plastic, a pair of plastic tweezers and a rope tied to his sink.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the walls of Lindsey’s cell were plastered with picture of tattoos ripped out of publications along with nude photos of various people. Lindsey sports a number of tattoos and even got in trouble once for having additional ones added while a prison inmate.
Several of the items, including the metal nail file, taken from the cell could have been used as weapons. It was also noted Lindsey has made multiple threats to jail staff and others.
The probable cause affidavit does not speculate as to how the large number of contraband items got into Lindsey’s isolation cell.
Two days after the cell search, Lindsey is reported to have asked for a telephone and it was placed at an opening in the cell door through which food trays are passed, commonly called the “bean hole”.
Lindsey was reported to have asked about filing a police report because he was “not receiving good food.” He was told he could have made the report during the time officers were conducting the cell search two days earlier.
Lindsey is claimed to have said, “if the officers here can’t do what is expected as part of their job, then they don’t need to be a part of this work. I do not want to get violent, but if they can’t (do the job), I will start handling things around here.”
Later, jail staff reported hearing banging sounds and when they checked Lindsey’s cell, they saw him throwing what were initially believed to be his plastic cups and bowls.
The items being thrown by Lindsey turned out to be parts of a video camera which he had ripped off the wall of his cell. He had stuffed part of the camera into the toilet and was throwing the rest out of the “bean hole”.
His cell window had also been broken, according to the incident report.
The new charges against Lindsey include two counts of possession of a weapon by an incarcerated person, two counts of impairing the operation of a vital public facility and first-degree criminal mischief.
The charges were filed under the Habitual Criminal Offender act.
With the two new cases opened on him, Lindsey is now facing charges in nine criminal cases.
The attorneys representing the 32-year-old Lindsey, in the capitol murder case have filed a motion asking that Lindsey undergo a psychological examination.
The motion claims when one of the attorneys met with Lindsey via Zoom on April 26 and that Lindsey “made statements and displayed behavior that gave counsel concern regarding his fitness. The behavior and comments were unlike any that had been displayed in previous meetings.”
The motion asks the court to issue an order for an examination to determine Lindsey’s fitness to proceed.
On April 26, Lindsey was reported to have thrown a rage-fueled-fit in the jail and about two weeks later attacked a jailer, hitting him in the jaw with his fist.
After the incident with the jailer, the 31-year-old Lindsey is quoted as saying the punch was “only a love pat.”
ANOTHER OUTBURST
On May 15, a team of jailers went to Lindsey’s cell to remove him so a trustee could do routine cleaning. The probable cause affidavit notes that Lindsey cannot “be trusted” to do the job himself “due to his violent tendencies.”
After leg and hand restraints were put on Lindsey, he was taken outside the cell until the cleaning was done.
When he was put back into his cell, the leg restraints were first removed in the hall and Lindsey stepped into his cell.
A jailer then removed the hand restraint from Lindsey’s right hand. Before the other restraint could be removed, Lindsey lashed out and punched the jailer.
This type of behavior is not unusual for Lindsey. He has been quoted saying during his many stays in the county jail that he has no problem attacking staff and fellow inmates.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the jailer was “stunned” by the blow and dropped his handcuff key. Lindsey is alleged to have picked the key up and held it over the toilet in his cell as if planning to drop it in.
He was ordered to give up the key and did so.
At this point, a number of jailers had their stun guns trained on Lindsey and he decided to end the incident.
The jailer who was punched was unable to finish his shift and went to Baxter Health where he was diagnosed with major bruising and a possible concussion.
During the initial incident on April 26, Lindsey was reported to have been in the multiple-purpose room of the jail conducting an on-line meeting with one of his attorneys in the murder case when he blew his top. He was reported to have overturned the table where he was sitting, scattering papers and sending a laptop computer crashing to the floor.
Lindsey is alleged to have started yelling and pacing. He stopped at one point to throw a folding metal chair at a window causing the security glass to crack.
At the time, Lindsey was shackled and wearing hand restraints.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lindsey is double jointed and can “dislocate” his thumb and move it into a position that allows him to slip his hand through the restraints.
He is reported to have removed the cuff from his left hand, took the free cuff and placed it over his right hand turning it into a “brass knuckle type weapon.”
Lindsey was reported to have continued to pace and yell until a team of jailers came into the room, brought him under control and returned him to his cell.
CHARGES FROM BOTH INCIDENTS
The charges stemming from the incidents in April and May are all felonies, including criminal mischief, possession or use of weapons by an incarcerated person, 2nd degree battery and impairing the operations if a vital public facility.
THE MURDER CASE
Lindsey is in jail awaiting his murder trial. He is one of four people charged in Stradford’s death.
Stradford was allegedly lured to a house along Cresswell Drive in Mountain Home. According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after Stradford entered what was described as a walk-out basement, Lindsey and 42-year-old Skylar Brazil began beating him.
His body was found in a burned-out vehicle several days after the violent and ultimately deadly encounter at the Cresswell Drive residence.
In addition to Lindsey and Brazil, two females, 46-year-old Allison Cunningham and 29-year-old Allison Hendricks, were alleged to have been involved in the murder. It is reported they stood by and watched as Stradford was beaten by the two males.
Cunningham is alleged to have accompanied Lindsey to Texas where they were arrested and returned to Mountain Home.
The state is seeking the death penalty for Lindsey and Allison.
Of the four people accused of being involved in the Stradford killing, Lindsey is the most familiar to local law enforcement. His criminal record goes back to 2010 when he was a teenager.
After serving prison time on charges in an earlier criminal case, Lindsey was returned to the Baxter County Detention Center where he has been since.
Cunningham is being kept in another county jail and Hendricks has apparently been freed on bond. Brazil is an inmate in the Varner Unit of the state Prison system.
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