Photo: Christopher Cody Tabler
A Yellville man who fought with a Mountain Home police officer in an attempt to avoid being arrested appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Thirty-eight-year-old Christopher Cody Tabler entered a guilty plea to charges against him and was sentenced to four years in prison.
The Yellville man’s arrest came after the officer responded to an address along Kathleen Street on Sept. 7 last year to check on a complaint that Tabler was violating an active order of protection by being on the property.
When the officer made contact with Tabler, he said he was only there to check on his wife and children.
He then attempted to leave, but the officer said there was an active warrant out for his arrest and told him to place his hands behind his back.
Tabler was reported to have pulled away from the officer and started to walk to his vehicle. He was warned several times to comply or a stun gun would be used to bring him under control.
Tabler continued to resist and tried entering his vehicle. The officer deployed the Taser. Tabler was still able to get into his car and attempt to drive away.
As the officer continued his efforts to remove Tabler from the vehicle, the Yellville man was reported to have been kicking at the policeman.
The Taser was used again when Tabler put the car into drive.
The officer was eventually able to remove Tabler from the vehicle and place him in custody.
Tabler is reported to have said he had a magnetic box under his dash containing methamphetamine and a glass pipe used for the ingestion of methamphetamine.
At the time of the incident, Tabler was listed as a fugitive by probation and parole.
A Mountain Home woman had taken out an order of protection to try to keep Tabler away from her. In the petition seeking the order, the woman alleges Tabler was violent with her on June 24 last year. She said he came to her house to drop off their small son, and she “could tell he was in a mood to argue about our divorce.”
She said she did not want to argue in front of the child.
Tabler is reported to have pushed her into the bathroom and shut the door, “in an attempt to get me to talk to him,” she wrote.
She reported she was able to get out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to get to her cellphone to call for help.
She said Tabler unsuccessfully attempted to stop her from calling. After that, the victim said he began punching holes in the walls of the residence.
The victim said when Tabler saw she had made the call to 911, he fled the residence.
She said Tabler initially took their small son with him, but put him down before leaving, after she begged him not to take the boy.
Criminal cases were opened against Tabler in 2000, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012. A majority of the charges against him have been drug-related.
Through the years, Tabler has had a significant problem abiding by the terms and conditions of probation handed down in his cases.
At one point, according to court records, he tested positive for drugs eight times during a seven-month period.
The drugs included hydrocodone, oxycodone, amphetamine and marijuana.
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