A man who is alleged to have forced a female acquaintance at gunpoint to leave a residence on Old Tracy Ferry Road and accompany him made a brief appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Thirty-six-year-old Eli Michael Weedman has a long list of prior arrests, criminal charges and stays in both the Baxter County jail and the state prison system.
In a number of documents and letters Weedman recently filed in his current cases, he contends he is “not a life long criminal, but a man who has battled addictions since youth.” According to the Arkansas Crime Information Center, Weedman has had 17 previous felony convictions.
In filing a motion to obtain material evidence, Weedman acts as his own attorney.
Weedman contends he is “being prosecuted for who I am” rather than for what he has allegedly done.
He states he did not burglarize the house on Old Tracy Ferry Road, but lived there as his primary residence.
He also contends he did not kidnap anyone. In a Baxter County Sheriff’s Office report, 24-year-old Joseph Rowden, who was reported to have been at the residence when the incident took place in mid May, told investigators Weedman had forced Jayme Marie Waldrip, who lived at the Old Tracy Ferry Road address, to leave with him at gunpoint.
Weedman has denied that accusation. In a letter to Circuit Judge John Putman, he contends he is essentially being charged with burglarizing his own home.
In a motion filed with the court requesting certain items of material evidence, Weedman said he has requested the lease for the Old Tracy Ferry Road rental property from the owners, but has so far been refused. He wrote he was fearful the failure to provide the document might indicate it was in danger of “imminent destruction.”
Weedman said his lease on the property was entered into in October 2017 and ran through this October. He said he signed the lease along with Waldrip, the woman he is alleged to have taken from the house at gunpoint.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Weedman and a male companion known only as “Youngblood” came to the Old Tracy Ferry Road residence, and the man known as Youngblood is alleged to have kicked the front door of the residence open.
Rowden was in the residence when Weedman and his companion came in. Weedman was said to have demanded to know where Rowden was, and began yelling for him to come out. Rowden eventually came out of a closet where he was hiding, and Weedman is reported to have pointed a pistol at him.
The female victim was reported to have grabbed Weedman’s arm and struggled with him over possession of the weapon. During the struggle, Rowden ran out the back door to get help. Weedman is alleged to have taken the man’s backpack, cellphone and wallet prior to leaving with the female.
The woman told investigators she was convinced Weedman would harm her if she did not accompany him. She said he had threatened her with bodily harm the day before the incident.
In the documents filed in his case, Weedman said he didn’t kidnap anyone, but merely rode with Waldrip, whom he describes as a friend, as she drove into work at a Mountain Home motel.
In a statement to police, Waldrip said she had taken Weedman to a residence on County Road 302. She reported her vehicle overheated, and Weedman allowed her to call her supervisor to pick her up and take her to her workplace.
Police received a tip as to Weedman’s whereabouts, and he was located at a residence along South Street in Mountain Home the day after the incident at the Old Tracy Ferry Road residence and was taken into custody.
During the arrest, officers alleged they located various articles of drug paraphernalia and prescription pills. Weedman contends it was his 27-year-old sister Samantha who lived at the South Street home, and none of his personal possessions were there.
He says the probable cause affidavit in one of the cases falsely claims he was living at the South Street address and was in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Weedman contends the drugs and the drug paraphernalia belonged to his sister.
In three active criminal cases, Weedman faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia, criminal mischief, and being a habitual offender.
Weedman is currently an inmate at the North Central Unit of the state prison system at Calico Rock serving time on an earlier conviction.
According to prison records, Weedman has taken advantage of a variety of programs offered at the prison, along with taking college level classes. According to prison records, he has taken fine arts, introduction to business and computers, college algebra, U.S. and world history, freshman English as well as classes in anger management, parenting, stress management and communication skills.
Weedman was ordered to reappear in circuit court Jan. 4th. His trial is now tentatively set for the week of Jan. 22nd.
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