Terry Shumate (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A man who is alleged to have been involved in a robbery which led to a major manhunt in May 2023 appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and rejected a “wrap around” plea agreement to cover all of his cases and will proceed to trial.
Forty-year-old Terry Shumate Jr. is facing a long list of charges in the cases, including the theft of items from a residence on County Road 99 and another along Tranquilla Place.
The owner of the residence along County Road 99 reported he had seen two males taking items of property, and when he confronted them, the men, later identified as Shumate and 58-year-old Charles Cox, fled.
The victim supplied a license plate number for the get-away car, described as a Chevrolet Malibu.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim pursued the two men. The suspects’ car stopped along County Road 36, and shots were fired out of the window at the pursuing victim.
The victim was not hit and continued following the suspects until he lost sight of their vehicle.
At some point, Shumate and Cox went their separate ways. While he was on the run, Shumate is reported to have barged into a mobile home occupied by a mother and her child along County Road 35.
The residents of the mobile home were able to escape out the back door. Shumate then barricaded himself inside.
The Special Response Team from the Mountain Home Police Department was called in to assist. After a stand-off, Shumate surrendered and was taken into custody.
Shumate is charged with aggravated residential burglary, fleeing residential burglary unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated assault, possession of an illegal drug and drug paraphernalia. He is also charged with a number of misdemeanors including endangering the welfare of a minor and criminal trespass.
Cox was picked up at a residence in the Clarkridge area about five days after the incident.
A third man, 55-year-old Ronald Mitchell of Clarkridge, was also charged in connection with the incident.
He is accused of hindering the apprehension of Shumate and Cox by lying to officers. Mitchell is alleged to have had Cox in the truck with him when stopped by a sheriff’s deputy.
Michell is reported to have identified Cox as a neighbor of his who had come to check on him because of the heavy law enforcement presence in the rea.
At the time of the encounter, no description of Cox was available to the deputy. At an unspecified date, a deputy saw a picture of Cox in the booking files at the sheriff’s office and recognized him as the person who had been a passenger in Mitchell’s truck.
Shumate is also accused of being involved in the theft of a number of weapons and ammunition from a residence along Tranquilla Place.
The property belonged to the son and heir of a deceased individual.
The son told investigators that he suspected his sister might be responsible for the thefts. A neighbor had reported seeing the sister and a male, later identified as Shumate, at the home.
The firearms taken included a 12-guage shotgun, a .38 special revolver, a .44 magnum revolver, an AR-15 rifle, a 9-millimeter Baretta pistol, two Ruger .22 caliber rifles, 14 boxes of ammunition and 7-gun cases.
Shumate was arrested in late October 2022 when a vehicle entered a sobriety checkpoint, and officers noticed a marijuana pipe laying on the seat next to the female driver’s left leg. Shumate attempted to flee twice as officers were working the stop, including once after he had been cuffed. Pipes used to smoke Methamphetamine were found on Shumate.
In the three felony cases, Shumate is charged with residential burglary, theft of property, nine counts of theft of a firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated residential burglary, fleeing, unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, aggravated assault, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, criminal trespass, endangering the welfare of a minor and a number of traffic offenses.
Shumate is currently serving time in the Pine Bluff Unit of the state prison system on an earlier charge.
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