A Clarkridge man pled guilty to charges of 2nd degree domestic battery and was sentenced to five years probation during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
A no contact order issued after the incident was also dropped. Prosecutors told the court the state did not support the plea deal and that it was done at the insistence of the victim.
DOMESTIC BATTERY CASE
Fifty-six-year-old Charles Cox is alleged to have smashed his wife’s foot and ankle area with his boot as she lay on the floor. She suffered a broken bone in her foot, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The attack occurred March 2, 2022 but Cox’s wife said she was too frightened to report it until about eight days later.
The investigative report alleges Cox returned to the couple’s residence along Somer View Drive in Clarkridge around midnight March 2 last year.
He was upset and began arguing with his wife of 23 years. The dispute was reported to have centered around Cox’s Social Security payments and what was happening to the money.
The victim said when she tried to get up from her chair, Cox pushed on her chest knocking her back down.
The victim was able to get up again but could not keep her footing and fell to the floor. At that point, Cox is reported to have “stomped her ankle and foot with his boot.”
The victim sought medical attention and learned one bone in her foot was broken and another fractured.
She said she was initially afraid to return home, fearing what Cox might do. For a time, the victim stayed away from the couple’s residence.
The wife told investigators the recent fight was not the first example of violence involving the couple. She said they had both been jailed for domestic abuse but that this time was “different” because of the intensity of the violence that left her with broken bones.
Cox initially rejected a plea offered by the state in the domestic violence case and said he wanted to go to trial.
A hearing on motions filed in the case by the defense was held May 21 and it was announced that Cox would take a plea in the domestic battery case.
HIGH SPEED CHASE AND MANHUNT
Cox has another criminal case that remains open. He is due to reappear in circuit court on November 13.
In addition to Cox, 39-year-old Terry Shumate, Jr., of Mountain Home face charges stemming from an event on May 10 that started with the theft of some property and grew to involve a high-speed chase, shots being fired and an extensive manhunt.
Cox’s charges include residential burglary, aggravated assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia criminal trespass and theft of property.
Shumate faces charges of aggravated residential burglary, fleeing, being a felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault, theft of property, endangering the welfare of a minor and being a habitual offender.
Cox and Shumate have both entered not guilty pleas to their charges.
The two men were allegedly involved in stealing items of personal property at a residence along County Road 99. The homeowner told deputies he saw two men taking the articles.
After being caught in the act, Shumate and Cox were reported to have fled in a vehicle. The victim obtained a license number and began chasing the suspects.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the vehicle occupied by Shumate and Cox stopped at a point along County Road 36 and shots were fired out the window at the pursuing victim.
The victim was not hit and continued chasing the fleeing vehicle until he lost sight of it.
BOTH MEN LOCATED AND ARRESTED
After an extensive manhunt, Shumate was arrested at a mobile home along County Road 35 where he had barricaded himself.
The residence was occupied, but a woman and her child were able to escape out the back door and were reported not to have been injured.
According to a Baxter County Sheriff’s office incident report, a deputy went to an address along Somer View Drive in Clarkridge searching for Cox.
He was met at the door of the house by a woman identified as Charles Cox’s wife. It was the woman Cox was alleged to have attacked resulting in the domestic battery charge.
The deputy reported asking the woman if Charles Cox was in the home and she denied it, saying she had not seen him in a very long time.
The woman’s hands were said to have been shaking and she “had extreme difficulty keeping eye contact” with the deputy as they talked.
She finally allowed the deputy into the house, and he found Cox hiding under a bed. He was ordered out of his hiding place and taken into custody.
His wife had taken out a protective order to keep Cox away from her at the time of the 2022 attack and Cox was also charged with violating that order.
It is not spelled out in the probable cause affidavit how long Cox had been at the address in violation of the order. It was listed as the couple’s home when the 2022 charges were filed.
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