FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested a man Tuesday wanted in connection with the 2014 assault and kidnapping of a Springdale man who is a suspect in the deaths of two Missouri residents and a kidnapping earlier this week.
Timothy Ford, 35, of 4518 Madison County 3370 in Witter was booked into the Washington County Detention Center in connection with kidnapping, first-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief. He was being held Wednesday on $25,000 bond.
County investigators believe Ford was one of two people who beat and robbed Christopher Paschall in early September along Blue Springs Road, a rural stretch northeast of Fayetteville, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
A deputy found Paschall along the side of the road with a fractured skull and other injuries, his car's windows smashed and tires slashed, according to the report. After Paschall was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center, he told an investigator three men kidnapped him at gunpoint and told him to drive toward the south end of Beaver Lake before stealing his money and beating him with a bat, brass knuckles and a stun gun.
Paschall, 37, was arrested Monday in Springdale after investigators say he shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Casey Brace, and her grandfather, Herbert Townsend, and kidnapped his and Brace's 2-year-old daughter near Washburn, Mo., about 20 miles northeast of Bentonville. The daughter was found safe when Paschall was arrested.
"That was a big relief," said Sheriff Mick Epperly of Barry County, which contains Washburn.
Paschall had been harassing and stalking Brace for months, Epperly said, and patrols had been increased around her family's homes.
"He just never did give up on her, basically," Epperly said. "It's just a sad deal."
Paschall's Springdale address was listed as 2874 Commons Ave., but Springdale police said they found him at a relative's home.
Paschall was being held Wednesday in the Washington County jail in connection with the unrelated charges of possession of a firearm by certain persons, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft by receiving. His bond was set at $100,000.
Kelly Cantrell, Washington County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said Paschall could need to go through the legal process for those local charges before being extradited unless he makes bond. In that case, Missouri officials could take him, she said.
"They'll probably take care of them before coming up here," Epperly agreed, adding he would get Paschall "as soon as he can be released."
Ford was arrested Tuesday by Little Flock Police on suspicion of driving on a suspended license, Deputy Keshia Guyll with the Benton County Sheriff's Office said. Ford was transferred to Washington County after being booked in the Benton County jail, she said.
At the hospital in September, the arrest warrant states, Paschall named Ford as his attacker, along with Julio Salazar Gonzalez, a Fayetteville man with distinctive triangle-shaped facial tattoos above and below his eyes. Paschall claimed Gonzalez was angry with Paschall for telling police about a stereo Gonzalez stole, according to the report.
Gonzalez was arrested in October in connection with kidnapping, first-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief, all related to the Paschall incident. He was released from the Washington County jail the next day. He was arrested in December in connection with aggravated assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft by receiving and fleeing.
He pleaded not guilty to the October charges at his arraignment Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court. His trial is set for Feb. 24. Gonzalez was being held Wednesday in the Washington County jail in lieu of a $225,000 bond.
Though Paschall said three men attacked him, a third suspect was never determined, Cantrell said.
Ford and Gonzalez have had several run-ins with law enforcement in the past several years, according to jail records.
Gonzalez was arrested last July in connection with public intoxication and aggravated robbery. He was arrested last March in connection with aggravated robbery and gang activity. The March robbery charge was dropped, said Glenda Ardemagni, administrative assistant at the Washington County Prosecutor's Office.
Ford has been arrested six times since 2007, always for failure to pay fines and court costs.
NW News on 01/08/2015