Mulanax pleads to third degree assault; second count dismissed

Preston Mulanax pleaded guilty to third degree assault and was sentenced to SIS and 5 years probation. A SIS, or suspended imposition of sentence, means Mulanex is placed on probation for a period of time. If he follows the terms of probation, at the end of the probation period the court will close the case and the criminal conviction will not appear on his records. However, if Mulanex violates the probation, a full sentence may be invoked. 

Pursuant to a plea agreement, a second count of third degree assault was dismissed.

The two charges of felony assault were in connection with a May 8, 2024, incident in Gainesville. 

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey Lane, at 1:11 a.m. May 8, the Ozark County Sheriff’s dispatch office received a call from the victim saying someone was assaulting his wife and had assaulted him as well at a residence on Runway Loop in Gainesville. The caller requested deputies to respond. 

When Lane arrived on scene, he met with Mulanax, who said he’d been drinking and had got into an altercation with a guy because he felt he was being disrespectful, and he didn’t like it.

While Lane was speaking with Mulanax, Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Vesa Phelan spoke with a witness who said Mulanax had been drinking with the victim and became irritated and started assaulting him. Then when the victim’s wife attempted to break the fight up, Mulanax struck her as well. 

After speaking with the victim, Phelan and Lane spoke to both victims to get their side of the story. They also said they were drinking with Mulanax when he got irritated and began striking the husband in the face, causing injury to his chin. They said Mulanax then struck the man’s wife, rendering her unconscious, before he left the residence. 

The victims also said that they’d heard glass breaking sometime after the altercation but before officers arrived on scene.

Lane and Phelan began searching the area and discovered one of the residences had multiple windows broken out where Mulanax was first located.