Gainesville man charged with felony for damaging jail mattress

Dakota Maynard, 19, of Gainesville, has been indicted by an Ozark County grand jury on a class E felony of damage to jail property in connection with the alleged destruction of a mattress cover at the Ozark County Jail.

Maynard was arraigned Nov. 9 and is scheduled  to return to court before Circuit Judge Craig Carter for a plea hearing or trial setting at 9 a.m. Dec. 7. He is being represented by Missouri Public Defender Lauren Kate Welborn. 

According to the probable cause statement written by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman, Maynard was arrested on Oct. 7 and booked into the Ozark County Jail. As part of the process, he was assigned a county-issued mattress, along with other necessary items for his time spent in custody at the jail. 

“Dakota proceeded to take the internal cushioned mattress out of the sealed mattress that was sealed in a plastic liner that protects from bodily fluids… Upon release, he presented the cushion and the mattress liner. When inquired what happened to the bedding and mattress he said he needed to be “more comfortable,” Sherman wrote. “The mattress was recently purchased by the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department and had no defects associated to the mattress as three had been delivered in recent weeks to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department.”