Gainesville man faces DWI, battery of officer in Arkansas


Christopher Lynne

Christopher Lynne, 26, of Gainesville, is currently being held in the Baxter County, Arkansas, Jail in Mountain Home on a $5,000 bond. The arrest stems from a Nov. 20 traffic stop initiated by Mountain Home Police Officer Cody Hillicker, who suspected Lynne of driving while intoxicated.
In the process of being arrested and booked into the Baxter County Jail for DWI, Lynne reportedly spat in Hillicker’s face, lunged at the officer, cursed at him and threatened him. After being arrested and transported to the jail, Lynne reportedly continued to be aggressive and defiant and was forced into a restraint chair.
Lynne is charged with driving while intoxicated, refusal of blood alcohol content testing, driving left of center of the highway, not wearing a seatbelt, battery of a police officer, terroristic threatening and not carrying liability insurance on his vehicle.
He appeared in Baxter County court Dec. 5. Information on his next court appearance was not available at press time.
According to online records, Lynne has been previously convicted in Ozark County of operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, involving an accident (2008), exceeding posted speed limit by 16 to 19 miles per hour, failing to wear a seatbelt, operating a vehicle on a highway without a valid license and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia (2011), and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia (2016). He currently has two open cases in which he is charged with operating a motor vehicle owned by another, knowing the owner of the vehicle has not maintained financial responsibility, and operating a motor vehicle or trailer that has no titled issued for it since it was acquired/built. He is scheduled to appear before Associate Judge Raymond Gross Jan. 14, 2020, in those cases.

The allegations
According to a Baxter Bulletin report, Hillicker initiated the traffic stop with an SUV on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Lynne was driving the vehicle, and 30-year-old Talisa Elaine Deshazo of West Plains was riding as a front seat passenger.
Deshazo was reportedly asleep at the time of the stop and was not wearing a seatbelt. When she awoke, her speech was slurred and there was an open bottle of whiskey at her feet, according to a court affidavit cited by the Bulletin.
Lynne, the driver, reportedly smelled of intoxicants, had watery, bloodshot eyes, and constricted pupils and had slurred speech when the officer approached the vehicle.
When Hillicker asked Lynne how much alcohol he’d had to drink, Lynne initially told the officer he’d had one shot of alcohol, according to the Bulletin’s report.
Hillicker then performed a portable breath test, and Lynne’s blood alcohol content tested at .12 percent. After the test was performed, Lynne reportedly changed his answer and told the officer he’d had “enough shots to catch a buzz.”
Hillicker performed several other sobriety tests and eventually arrested Lynne.
Hillicker then asked Deshazo to exit the vehicle. She reportedly declined, and the officer asked her to step out of the SUV several more times. She refused, the documents state.
Hillicker told Deshazo she was under arrest for obstructing governmental operations, and the woman reportedly began cursing at the officer. After a second officer arrived on scene, Deshazo reportedly punched Hillicker in the mouth, kicked him and yelled at both officers.
Hillicker deployed his taser, hitting Deshazo and causing her to fall to the ground. She continued to resist arrest, the Bulletin said. It took several attempts to secure handcuffs on the woman, and once they were in place, Deshazo spat food at Hillicker’s face and kicked the officer.
After both Lynne and Deshazo were in handcuffs and secured in the patrol vehicle, Hillicker transported the pair to the Baxter County Jail. Once inside the jail, Lynne reportedly became enraged and spat in the officer’s face. He then began to argue with the officer and lunged at him.
As Hillicker and other Baxter County Jail personnel worked to get Lynne booked into the jail, Lynne reportedly cursed multiple times and threatened the officer. He kicked a table and lunged at him again.
Officers carried Lynne, who was reportedly combative and kicking the officers, to a restraint chair in the jail and secured him into it.  
Also at the jail, Deshazo reportedly refused to exit the patrol car. She kicked multiple jailers, threatened them and Hillicker, according to a court affidavit cited by the Bulletin.
Deshazo was also placed into a restraint chair.
She is charged with obstructing governmental operations, not wearing a seatbelt, drinking in public, having an open alcohol container in a vehicle, resisting arrest, threatening force, second-degree battery of a police officer and terroristic threatening. She is also being held in the Baxter County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Ozark County Times

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PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
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