Carlisle man pleads no contest in battery of HSPD officer
A Carlisle man originally charged with a felony battery count after reportedly punching a Hot Springs police officer last year pleaded no contest Monday to a reduced charge in Garland County Circuit Court.
Matthew Wayne Campbell,
32, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of third-degree battery and was sentenced to one year in jail, with the entire sentence suspended, fined
$2,500 and ordered to pay $170 in court costs. He had been set to stand trial Tuesday on a charge of second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years in prison.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Campbell wouldn’t admit to hitting the officer, but was willing to plead no contest to the reduced charge. He said he talked to the officer, Donald Hill, and “he was fine with it.” Graham said he basically left it up to Hill if he wanted to go to trial and Hill told him he was OK with the plea agreement.
Graham said the altercation between Campbell and the officer occurred when the officer responded to a public intoxication complaint involving Campbell’s friend. As a result, Hill “didn’t pull up with lights and siren going so his video camera didn’t activate. It was basically (Campbell’s) word against the officer.”
Graham said Campbell had no prior criminal history and “this appeared to be completely out of character for him.” He also noted Hill only sustained minor injuries in the incident. “He had a bruise and a scrape I think,” he said.
According to the affidavit, on April 30,
2016, around
2:30 a.m., po- lice responded to the French Quarter, 903 Central Ave., an adult entertainment club, to a complaint of an intoxicated person and they encountered Campbell as they were trying to arrest his friend.
Campbell initially refused to leave the bar after being ordered to by officers and the club manager. He continued to curse and refuse to leave until officers told him he would be arrested, then he left. He returned minutes later and attempted to enter the club again and was told to leave.
He continued to walk toward the door when Hill stepped in front of him and ordered him to turn around and leave. At that point, Campbell reportedly punched Hill in the right eye. Hill and other officers subdued Campbell as he continued to fight and at one point, Hill was reportedly kicked.
The affidavit notes Hill sustained a cut to his right hand, a bruise to his right eye and an abrasion to his left knee.
• A local woman pleaded guilty Monday in circuit court to stealing a car from the parking lot of Oaklawn Racing & Gaming last year.
Jennifer Lee Terry, 41, who lists a Wishbone Street address, pleaded guilty to a felony count of theft of property more than
$5,000 and was sentenced to six years’ probation, fined $1,500, and ordered to pay $170 in court costs and $600 in restitution to the victim.
According to the affidavit, on Oct. 29, 2016, shortly after 8 p.m., HSPD Officer Paul Allen responded to Oaklawn, located at 2705 Central Ave., after a male victim reported his red 2005 Dodge dually pickup, valued at
$9,000, had been stolen from the lot.
Allen reviewed video footage from the parking lot with Oaklawn surveillance personnel and noted that at 12:18 p.m. the video showed a white female driving off the lot in the victim’s pickup. Surveillance personnel played the footage in reverse following the female suspect through the parking lot as she checked dozens of vehicle door handles looking for an unlocked vehicle.
She was finally tracked back to where she had entered the game room and provided an ID card to a teller there identifying her as Terry. Allen compared Terry’s driver’s license photo to the video footage and confirmed it was her.
Terry was arrested on Nov.
16 and later released on $3,500 bond. She reportedly failed to appear at a later hearing and was arrested again and had remained in custody until Monday’s hearing.