An Ozark man has pleaded not guilty to multiple criminal charges stemming from an April incident that ended with him being shot in the leg by a property owner after allegedly making threats and entering private property.
Jeffery T. Bayer, 29, faces charges including first-degree terroristic threatening, breaking or entering, first-degree assault, second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, and possession of drug paraphernalia used for ingesting controlled substances, according to Franklin County Circuit Court records.
The events unfolded April 29 in a residential area of Ozark located within a few blocks of two schools and the Franklin County Learning Center daycare facility. Details of the case were outlined in an affidavit prepared by Ozark Police Officer Levi Ridgeway.
Ridgeway responded to a call in the 1100 block of West School Street after a neighbor reported concerning behavior by Bayer. According to the affidavit, the woman told police Bayer emerged from his residence repeatedly saying, “He killed him” and “I’m gonna kill her” while she was outside with her children.
The woman said Bayer approached her and instructed her to come toward him. Instead, she began loading her children into her vehicle and refused. Bayer then left the area on foot, heading west along the street, according to the report.
While speaking with the caller, Ridgeway reported hearing two loud sounds that he believed were gunshots coming from nearby. He immediately drove toward the area and encountered a man holding a handgun while Bayer stood behind a tree with a gunshot wound to his right leg.
The officer called for additional units and ordered the armed man to drop the weapon, which he did. Ridgeway then secured Bayer in handcuffs while waiting for emergency medical personnel to arrive.
According to the affidavit, the homeowner told officers that his daughter had awakened him after discovering Bayer inside her boyfriend’s truck on the family’s property. The homeowner said he confronted Bayer and instructed him to leave, but Bayer refused and continued making threats about killing a woman while advancing toward him and his daughter.
The man said he went inside his residence, retrieved a firearm, and returned outside. He found Bayer standing on the home’s steps and again ordered him to leave.
The homeowner told investigators he initially fired two warning shots into the ground. He said Bayer moved behind a tree but refused to leave. When Bayer later stepped out from behind the tree and moved toward him, the homeowner fired a shot that struck Bayer in the leg.
Deputies from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and additional law enforcement personnel responded to the scene, which was located roughly two blocks from Elgin B. Milton Elementary School.
Before paramedics arrived, Ridgeway examined Bayer’s injury and cut away part of his clothing to assess the wound. During that process, the officer reported finding a glass pipe containing white residue in Bayer’s pocket.
Bayer was transported to a hospital in Fort Smith for treatment. Afterward, officers returned to the original caller’s residence and investigated Bayer’s earlier statements.
According to the affidavit, officers searched Bayer’s home and found no evidence supporting his claims that someone had been killed.
Following his release from the hospital on May 1, Ridgeway arrested Bayer on a probable-cause warrant.
Court records show Bayer was formally charged on May 8 and booked into the Franklin County Detention Center. He was released three days later after posting a $1,500 cash bond.
Bayer is represented by Ozark attorney Ernie Witt and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Authorities have not filed charges against the property owner who shot Bayer.