A 32-year-old Mountain Home man, Caleb Joshua Woodell, pled guilty to charges in three active criminal cases during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court recently.
He was sentenced to four years in prison, to be followed by 24 months of probation.
Woodell’s charges included theft of property, felony domestic battery of an adult female and another domestic battery charge involving two young children.
WOODELL FIGHTS WITH WOMAN
The first two cases involve Woodell and a woman whose relationship to him is not spelled out in police reports.
In one case, he is accused of beating the woman and in another with using her debit card while she was in a Springfield hospital for treatment of the serious injuries she received in the domestic altercation.
VERBAL ARGUMENT TURNS PHYSICAL
On or about August 23, 2022, officers went to Woodell’s home located along Rossi Road after a woman called police and reported she had been assaulted by Woodell.
The victim said she had been able to get away from the house and walk to a convenience store on State Highway 5 South where she called 911.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim was able to give a full statement at Baxter Health. She was later transported to a hospital in Springfield due to the seriousness of her injuries.
The woman said she and Woodell had been involved in a lengthy argument and, at some point, the confrontation turned physical.
The woman alleged Woodell repeatedly struck her in the face with his fist and then kicked her in her right side.
She told police drugs and alcohol were involved.
Woodell was charged with 2nd degree domestic battery in the case.
During the time the victim from the initial beating was in the Springfield hospital for treatment of her injuries, Woodell is charged with using her debit card to make a purchase at a liquor store and several cash withdrawals from ATM machines.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the unauthorized transactions totaled almost $1,900.
Woodell is said to have admitted to investigators he made the transactions and said that he would pay the victim back. The payback apparently never came.
He is charged with theft of property in the debit card case and was also ordered to pay victim restitution.
WARRANT SERVED
In mid-October last year, officers returned to Woodell’s address to serve an active warrant.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Woodell was reported to be under the influence of methamphetamine and alcohol when officers arrived.
He was said to have been intoxicated to the point where he was unable to contact anyone to come and care for two little girls ages 5 and 7 who were at the residence while he was taken to jail to be booked in on the warrant.
The girls were said to be Woodell’s daughters even though one is listed with a different last name in the police report.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services was called in and took custody of the children.
The girls were taken to Baxter Health to be examined. Both were reported to be “very dirty” with what was described as “severe” lice infestations.
When one of the girls was getting undressed before showering, she is reported to have told a social worker she was “not allowed to show anyone my bruises.”
When she was examined, the girl had multiple bruises in various stages of healing on her thigh and buttock.
The little girl said Woodell had hit her multiple times with a spatula because he thought she had lost his cellphone.
Both girls were removed from Woodell’s home when it was determined that remaining with him, “would present an immediate danger to the health and well-being of the juveniles.”
Woodell picked up his second domestic battery charge in the case.
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