Repeated traffic stops, missing phone lead to multiple felony charges for Gainesville man
A Gainesville man is facing three separate felony cases in Ozark County, including two counts of driving with a revoked license and a charge of receiving stolen property, after a series of incidents dating back to October 2025.
‘This is why I don’t stop for these mother [expletive]-ers’
Travis Riley, 39, of Gainesville, was most recently arrested June 11 after a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a gold Hyundai traveling northbound on County Road 530 just south of Highway 160 without a rear license plate.
According to a probable cause statement prepared by MSHP Trooper R. Wylie, the stop occurred at 2:58 p.m. When the trooper asked Riley for his driver’s license and proof of insurance, Riley immediately acknowledged that he did not have a valid license.
Due to Riley’s slow speech and a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the car, the trooper asked him to exit the vehicle.
While Riley sat in the patrol vehicle, Wylie checked his driving record and found multiple suspensions and revocations, including an administrative alcohol suspension on May 6, 2018; a chemical revocation on June 30, 2019; one-year point revocations on April 24 and Dec. 22, 2020; and a five-year DWI denial issued Dec. 22, 2020.
The report also showed prior convictions for driving with a revoked license in Ozark County in April 2020 and in Indiana in 2016 and 2023. According to the report, Riley also had numerous additional offenses of involving driving without a valid license or driving while revoked across four different states.
Wylie arrested Riley at 3:16 p.m. for driving with a revoked license. Because Riley has had at least three prior convictions for the same offense, the charge was elevated to that a felony rather than the usual misdemeanor.
After being informed of the charge, Riley allegedly expressed frustration about the arrest.
“I secured Riley in the front passenger seat of my patrol vehicle with the seatbelt,” Wylie wrote.
“Riley asked why he was being arrested. I informed [him] it was due to his driver’s status being revoked.”
Riley asked when he’d be released, and the trooper told him he would not be released because the charge was a felony. Riley allegedly responded, “This is why I don’t stop for these mother [expletive]-ers.”
The June arrest was not the first time law enforcement had recently encountered Riley behind the wheel.
Riley admits to never having a valid license before
A second felony case stems from a May 20, 2026, traffic stop conducted by Ozark County Deputy Jeff Lane. According to Lane’s report, he was traveling on County Road 519A to serve paperwork when he spotted Riley driving nearby.
Lane wrote that he knew from previous contacts that Riley did not have a valid driver’s license. He also observed that the vehicle had no front license plate and an expired rear plate.
After initiating a traffic stop, Riley told the deputy he had been working on the vehicle and was driving it only to ensure it was running properly.
According to the report, Riley told Lane he had never possessed a valid driver’s license but was attempting to obtain one. He said he had no plans to drive the vehicle anywhere beyond the immediate area while testing repairs.
A phone taken from the Caulfield Dollar General
A third recently filed case involves a missing cellphone reported stolen from the Caulfield Dollar General on Oct. 15, 2025.
According to a report prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Lt. Matt Rhoades, a man contacted the sheriff’s office after he and his wife realized her cellphone was missing following a shopping trip to the Dollar General store. Using a tracking app, the couple could see that the phone was at Riley’s residence near Gainesville.
The couple contacted Dollar General employees, who reviewed surveillance footage. The video allegedly showed Riley entering the store, taking a shopping cart previously used by the couple and leaving the building with it. Investigators said the cellphone was visible in the cart before Riley took it outside but was gone when the cart was later returned.
Rhoades, along with Deputies Gannan Moss and Jeff Lane, responded to Riley’s residence after the phone’s GPS signal repeatedly placed it there. By the time officers arrived, however, the phone had been powered off and could no longer be tracked.
According to the report, Riley answered the door of a camper residence and was recognized by officers from the surveillance footage. Investigators also noted he was wearing the same clothing seen in the store video.
When told officers were investigating a missing cellphone, Riley immediately admitted he had the device and said he had taken it by mistake. He led officers to a nearby padlocked shed, where he unlocked the lock, reached inside and retrieved the phone.
Riley told investigators he had mistaken the phone for his own. However, according to the report, his phone was black with no case, while the missing phone was inside a distinctive purple OtterBox case with a belt clip.
Riley also claimed he intended to return the phone but hadn’t done so because the battery had already died. Investigators reported that when the phone was powered on, it still had more than 10% battery remaining.
At the time of the incident, Riley was on probation in Ozark County.
The victims told investigators they wanted to pursue charges. They also reported that several apps appeared to have been opened on the password-protected phone while it was missing, although investigators found no signs that the device had been tampered with.
Riley is charged with two counts of felony driving with a revoked license and one count of receiving stolen property, a Class D felony. He was scheduled to appear before Associate Judge Raymond Gross at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Results of those hearings were not available at press time.