Teh One Who Knocks
07-03-2012, 10:46 AM
By Rick Peck - NWA Online
McDONALD COUNTY — A 36-year-old Rogers, Ark., man was arrested at about 5 a.m. Monday after a manhunt by several law enforcement officers from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department and the Goodman Police Department.
David M. Vaughn was captured by Goodman Police Chief Tom West after officers searched the area of Highway 71 and Route C in Goodman for about three hours. West’s capture of the suspect was not the textbook manner of apprehension, but instead one for a different textbook.
According to a probable cause statement by McDonald County Deputy Richard Gidcumb, West was sitting in the parking lot of a Goodman gas station in his patrol vehicle, a Ford Explorer with a light bar, but with no markings on the doors - though the vehicle did have a GPD1 license plate - when a man approached and asked West for a ride. The man was armed with a Bushmaster A.R. 15 at the time. West let the man inside and then held him at gunpoint until he could transport the suspect to Gidcumb’s location at Highway 71 and Route C. Gidcumb stated he took Vaughn into custody at about 5 a.m.
Gidcumb reported that at about 2 a.m. he received a call of shots fired on the offramp of Highway 71 in Goodman. He said on his arrival there was a blue Mustang parked at the bottom of the ramp along with a tractor trailer. Gidcumb said the driver of the tractor trailer told him that she heard six shots and then a gap and then heard another five shots from somewhere close by. She said a few minutes later a man walked up beside her tractor and knocked on the window, telling her that he needed to leave quick and that he had a gun. She told Gidcumb she saw the rifle.
At that point, the woman’s husband, who had been awoken from the sleeper and had gotten into the driver’s seat, began driving away. Vaughn jumped on the running board of the semi until the end of the offramp and then jumped down.
After Vaughn was in custody, Gidcumb reported that he asked Vaughn what he had been shooting at and the suspect replied he was shooting at unicorns.
The deputy found 12 spent. 223 caliber shells in the floorboard of the Mustang. According to Gidcumb’s statement, Vaughn admitted he had been driving the Mustang, which belonged to his girlfriend.
Gidcumb said a breathalyzer test administered at 5:52 a.m. showed Vaughn had a blood alcohol content of .06, approximately four hours after the first shots were fired.
Vaughn has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon in McDonald County Circuit Court. He remains in custody in the McDonald County Jail in lieu of a $1,500 cash bond.
McDONALD COUNTY — A 36-year-old Rogers, Ark., man was arrested at about 5 a.m. Monday after a manhunt by several law enforcement officers from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department and the Goodman Police Department.
David M. Vaughn was captured by Goodman Police Chief Tom West after officers searched the area of Highway 71 and Route C in Goodman for about three hours. West’s capture of the suspect was not the textbook manner of apprehension, but instead one for a different textbook.
According to a probable cause statement by McDonald County Deputy Richard Gidcumb, West was sitting in the parking lot of a Goodman gas station in his patrol vehicle, a Ford Explorer with a light bar, but with no markings on the doors - though the vehicle did have a GPD1 license plate - when a man approached and asked West for a ride. The man was armed with a Bushmaster A.R. 15 at the time. West let the man inside and then held him at gunpoint until he could transport the suspect to Gidcumb’s location at Highway 71 and Route C. Gidcumb stated he took Vaughn into custody at about 5 a.m.
Gidcumb reported that at about 2 a.m. he received a call of shots fired on the offramp of Highway 71 in Goodman. He said on his arrival there was a blue Mustang parked at the bottom of the ramp along with a tractor trailer. Gidcumb said the driver of the tractor trailer told him that she heard six shots and then a gap and then heard another five shots from somewhere close by. She said a few minutes later a man walked up beside her tractor and knocked on the window, telling her that he needed to leave quick and that he had a gun. She told Gidcumb she saw the rifle.
At that point, the woman’s husband, who had been awoken from the sleeper and had gotten into the driver’s seat, began driving away. Vaughn jumped on the running board of the semi until the end of the offramp and then jumped down.
After Vaughn was in custody, Gidcumb reported that he asked Vaughn what he had been shooting at and the suspect replied he was shooting at unicorns.
The deputy found 12 spent. 223 caliber shells in the floorboard of the Mustang. According to Gidcumb’s statement, Vaughn admitted he had been driving the Mustang, which belonged to his girlfriend.
Gidcumb said a breathalyzer test administered at 5:52 a.m. showed Vaughn had a blood alcohol content of .06, approximately four hours after the first shots were fired.
Vaughn has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon in McDonald County Circuit Court. He remains in custody in the McDonald County Jail in lieu of a $1,500 cash bond.