Ash Grove’s Arnall charged with assaulting neighbor

Suspect remains in custody following ‘escalation’ of aggression against neighbor
An Ash Grove man was arrested the day after Christmas after he allegedly assaulted his neighbor. Austin Arnall was booked into the Greene County Jail in the early evening of Monday, Dec. 26.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, a neighbor of Arnall’s told an officer with the Ash Grove Police Department that he went to go get his mail when Arnall began yelling at him from the front porch next door. The man said that Arnall then ran at him and knocked him down, sat on top of him and hit him repeatedly while trying to choke him. The victim said he rolled under his car to get away from Arnall.
Another neighbor who witnessed the alleged assault told the officer that he saw Arnall “straddling” the victim and “really pounding him.” The witness told the officer that he confronted Arnall, who “stopped the assault and ran.”
The officer described the victim as having “bruising and swelling to his face and head.” He also said the victim had “bleeding from his left eye,” and that the victim said he thought his right arm was dislocated. According to the probable cause statement, the man suffered “a closed head injury and a fractured humerus.”

Arnall located neighbor’s shed
The officer reported he found Arnall hiding in a “third neighbor’s shed southeast of the location” of the alleged assault and noted that he had an “odor of intoxicants” about him. The officer also said Arnall had been told not to be on the victim’s property prior to the incident.
In the probable cause statement, the officer expressed a concern that Arnall is a danger to the victim because of how closely they live to one another, and that Arnall is known to get aggressive when he drinks. The officer also reported that Arnall has had police called on him for disturbing the peace before, and two of those cases are still in municipal court. He also said prior reports show that Arnall allegedly has damaged the victim’s car. The previous incidents, the officer added, show that Arnall demonstrates a pattern of escalation.
As of press time, Arnall remained in custody at the Greene County Jail. He was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, Jan. 3, for a confined docket hearing; he is also scheduled to appear on Tuesday, Jan. 31 for a criminal setting.
According to the criminal complaint against him, if Arnall is convicted, he faces penalties ranging from one year in the county jail to seven years in prison, as well of a fine of up to $10,000.