Charges have been filed against Brandon L. Stokes, 23, West Plains, revealing details of a pursuit that resulted in a knee injury and facial lacerations to West Plains Police Officer Ivie Powell. Powell sought medical treatment and was placed on light duty while he recovers from the injuries, court documents show.
Powell submitted a report to prosecutors stating that on Feb. 29, he went to a home on the 600 block of Walnut Street to arrest Stokes on two active warrants. When he arrived, he reported, Stokes fled on foot after seeing the officer pull up to the residence, and jumped a chain link fence to escape.
Stokes reportedly continued to run away as Powell ordered him to stop, was located under a shed, and refused to lie down after crawling out from under it.
Powell reported he continued to order Stokes to the ground as the suspect continued to be noncompliant, and as the officer pulled and pushed Stokes to the ground, the suspect stood up and pulled away. Powell said he told Stokes to stop and when Stokes did not, deployed his Taser, hitting Stokes with the probes.
The suspect then fell to the ground with the officer following in order to arrest him, Powell stated, then failed to comply with an order to put his arms behind his back, claiming his arm was broken.
The two continued to scuffle and Powell used the drive stun setting on the Taser to force compliance, as Stokes grabbed the Taser and pulled on it to get it away from him. Stokes allegedly had brass knuckles on him at the time of the arrest and has been charged with three related felonies: second-degree assault on a special victim, resisting with arrest for a felony and disarming an officer performing an official duty.
His bond on the charges is set at $100,000; court records show he made a court appearance while in custody March 6 before 37th Judicial Associate Circuit Court Judge R. David Ray, with representation by Public Defender Corri Mader-Twillman. A bond review hearing has been set for this afternoon, and a preliminary case hearing is set for Tuesday, also in Ray’s courtroom, the records show.
Other charges filed against Stokes March 1 include felony third-degree domestic assault and felony second-degree burglary, related to two separate alleged incidents that happened the last week of February.
On the evening of Feb. 22, West Plains Police Officer Jacob Brixey reported to prosecutors, he was dispatched to a home on Lanton Road to investigate a domestic assault. When he arrived he said he didn't see or hear anyone, but heard two boys sitting in the back seat of the victim's vehicle saying their mother had been slapped by Stokes.
Brixey said he approached the front door, knocked on it and announced his presence before seeing the victim on the floor, apparently crawling on all fours. When he addressed her, she said Stokes had punched her in the face, and the officer described her as “distraught and wailing" from an altercation that appeared to have just taken place.
Brixey said he helped the victim onto the porch and called for an ambulance, and she told him she and Stokes were in a romantic relationship, she had gone there to spend time with him, and tried to get some money back from him that he had taken.
That resulted in Stokes taking her phone and keys and throwing them, and when she tried to find them they had a heated argument, she said.
Stokes allegedly then picked her up with both arms wrapped around her and carried her onto the porch from where the car was parked, and after she shoved him off of her, he put his hands around her throat and pushed her into the door. She said she landed on her back against the door frame and fell to the floor before Stokes dragged her by the hair as he punched her in the face.
Brixey said he saw bruising on the left side of the victim's neck that appeared to be from fingers, carpet burns on both of her forearms, and redness and swelling to the left side of her face around her cheekbone.
The burglary charge was filed after a woman reported her house had been broken into between afternoon of Feb. 26 and overnight Feb. 27, and named Ashley Stokes, 44, West Plains, as a suspect because the two had broken up after a long-term relationship and Ashley Stokes was mad at her. The victim added the two had lived at the residence together, but it had been a year.
Security footage showed a suspect vehicle that was a black Chevrolet that left the scene with three occupants that were considered suspects and a vehicle matching that description was found at a home on Lynn Drive where Ashley Stokes lives. Ashley Stokes and another suspect were taken into custody, investigating officer Powell said, and Ashley Stokes reportedly said she and Brandon Stokes had broken into the house using a flathead screwdriver.
Items listed as stolen were a Playstation 4, three wireless controllers and several bottles of cologne, total value of between $610 and $670.
Powell added that as he arrived at the suspect's home, he saw Brandon Stokes standing outside the suspect vehicle, and as the officer walked from his patrol car, Stokes began walking away from Powell and began running as he looked back at the officer.
Ashley Stokes has also been charged with second-degree burglary, was scheduled to appear for arraignment on Monday but did not, and is to make an initial appearance on April 15 before Ray, court records show; a summons issued to her by mail on Thursday was returned as undeliverable the next day.
The third suspect in the burglary is Triniti N. Beck, 23, West Plains, also charged with second-degree burglary. Court records show she was arrested and released on a $5,000 bond, has pleaded not guilty and is to appear April 15 for a counsel status hearing before Ray.
