Rural Mountain Home man charged with aggravated assault

BAXTER COUNTY, Ark. — A man from rural Mountain Home was arrested Thursday evening after threatening a woman with a rifle, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).

33-year-old Chris Mason Johnston received 10 charges, including two counts of aggravated assault on a family member, three counts of domestic battery, first-degree false imprisonment, fleeing, resisting arrest, manufacture of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

BCSO says that around 7:30 p.m., 911 alerted them of a physical domestic incident in rural Baxter County on Promise Land Road. The caller said she was hiding in a closet from the suspect, who was armed with a rifle and was threatening her.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they noticed the suspect flee from the home into a wooded area behind the residence. The deputies then got three female victims out of the house.

A drone from the Mountain Home Police Department and a dog tracking team from the North Central Department assisted BCSO deputies in locating the subject. After an hour and a half, the dog tracking team found Johnston and a nearby rifle and took him into custody. Law enforcement also found several marijuana plants growing behind an outbuilding on the property.

Johnston was then booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond. He has since been released and is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit court on Monday, September 23.

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