Teen faces felony charges for striking man with Jeep

What began as a late-night bonfire among friends in Gainesville ended in chaos early Sunday morning when, authorities say, a teenager who was asked to leave the property returned to the scene and hit a person with his Jeep.

Hunter Warren, 19, of Dora, is currently being held in the Ozark County Jail without bond. He was scheduled for an initial arraignment Tuesday before Associate Judge Raymond Gross. 

Ambulance toned out

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Deputy Josh Sherman, and this week’s sheriff’s dispatch report, the county’s 911 line received a call at 3:54 a.m. reporting that a man had been struck by a vehicle on County Road 603 in Gainesville. 

The caller initially said the man who had been hit by the vehicle was not breathing, but another person on scene later told the dispatcher they had detected breath from the victim. But there were no obvious signs of bleeding, they said. 

The Ozark County Ambulance was toned out the same minute the call came in, at 3:54 a.m. and an ambulance was in route within two minutes and arrived on scene 10 minutes later. Deputies Sherman and Hunter Ryan also immediately headed toward the incident. After 20 minutes, the patient had been checked out by EMS, loaded into an ambulance and was being transported to Baxter Health in Mountain Home, Arkansas, for treatment.

Deputies take witness accounts

The witness stayed on the line with the dispatcher until the officers and emergency personnel arrived. 

Once on scene, Sherman interviewed the caller, who stated that earlier that night, he and his friends were gathered at his house when Warren arrived in a teal blue Jeep. 

The witness told the officer that Warren was upset over a past relationship and that he believed his ex-girlfriend may have been talking to other people who were at his house that night or that she was there. Warren was asked to leave, the man said, and he did. But the man said that sometime later that night, Warren showed back up to the party and pulled in without his headlights on in the Jeep. 

The witness said he was there with three other people when they saw the Jeep approach them toward a bonfire they were gathered at. He and another individual were able to jump out of the way, he said. But after the Jeep had left the scene, they realized one man had been hit by Warren’s vehicle. That is when he called 911, he said 

The man then showed Deputy Sherman a SnapChat story that had been posted by Warren, which showed a teal blue Jeep, which had been described by the victims as the vehicle in question. 

Deputy Sherman spoke with another witness on scene, a juvenile, who corroborated the same details of events occurring that night, the report says. The juvenile also told the officer that he believed another person at the home that night was able to video the incident. 

Sherman wrote in his report that he later contacted that person, who did have a video of the incident. 

Warren arrested, cell phone and Jeep taken as evidence

The deputies drove to Warren’s parents’ home, where he is known to stay, and found a teal blue Jeep on the property. They then confirmed with Hunter’s grandmother that the suspect was inside the residence and was not answering his phone, despite officers’ attempts to contact them. 

“Eventually, Hunter Warren came outside his residence and was arrested without further incident and was placed in the patrol car for transport to jail. Initial observations of his condition was the presence of alcohol emitting from Hunter, as well as red bloodshot eyes,” Sherman’s report says. “I read Miranda rights to him, and he confirmed he understood and admitted that he had consumed alcoholic beverages throughout the evening/morning of the incident and prior to his arrest. He relayed he was initially at [the witness’s] place but denied the incident occurring as ‘he didn’t recall’ but was able to provide other details of his whereabouts for the evening.”

A search warrant was granted, allowing officers to enter and search Warren’s residence and property for any recording devices (including but not limited to cell phones, tablets, iPads or other electronic devices capable of capturing video or audio). The search warrant also allowed officers to search the teal-colored Jeep, which was alleged to be used in the incident. 

Officers recovered a cell phone from Warren’s bedside, and the Jeep was towed to the sheriff’s department. 

Victim discharged from hospital, provides statement

The victim was discharged from the hospital at noon that day after being treated for multiple contusions, a “closed head injury” with loss of consciousness of unknown duration and a possible fractured foot, the report says. He was also discharged with the diagnosis of a possible concussion and, as a preventative measure, his foot was placed in a medical boot to immobilize the extremity, the report says.

The victim’s mother drove him from the hospital to the sheriff’s office, where he provided the deputies with a statement about the incident. 

The man reportedly told the officers that he arrived at the residence around 10:30 p.m. the night before, and at some point that night, he and his friends had a verbal altercation with Hunter Warren and told him to leave. 

The man said after Warren left, he went inside the house. Later, when he heard another verbal altercation occurring, he went back outside, where he saw Warren had returned in his teal Jeep. 

The man said he walked toward the vehicle at that point, and when he was about 10 feet in front of it, he heard the vehicle start and then he was struck by the Jeep.

The man said he didn’t recall anything after that other than a few moments when he was inside the ambulance and then inside an emergency room. 

Charges filed

Warren is charged with first-degree assault, causing serious physical injury, a class A felony that carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison or life imprisonment if convicted. 

He is also charged with armed criminal action, leaving the scene of an accident with physical injury, operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner and operating a vehicle on a highway without a valid license. 

The report says that the victim and witness who recorded the incident told officers they wanted to press charges, while the homeowner witness and the juvenile witness said they didn’t wish to pursue charges.