The Associated Press State & Local Wire

June 29, 2000, Thursday, BC cycle

Dispute with tenants leads to charge against doctor, wife

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 507 words

DATELINE: NEOSHO, Mo.

A psychiatrist and his wife have been charged in a dispute with their tenants in which a shot was allegedly fired at a sheriff’s deputy and property was damaged with a pickax.
Dr. Charles Patterson, 61, a staff psychiatrist at the Ozark Center in Joplin, was charged Tuesday with unlawful use of a weapon. His wife, Carol Patterson, 52, was accused of property damage, assault and driving while intoxicated.
The Newton County sheriff’s department said the Pattersons called Sunday night to report an altercation with their tenant, Barry Kimbrough, 47. He and Jo Hollis, 51, lived in an apartment inside a barn on property owned by the Pattersons, the sheriff’s department said.
Chief Deputy Chris Jennings said the Pattersons, who live in a camper on the property, wanted the tenants to move out. He said Dr. Patterson apparently went into the apartment Sunday night while the tenants were gone.
When Kimbrough returned, he confronted Patterson and accused him of trespassing.
“It evolved into a pushing match, and the landlord said he was struck in the face,” Jennings said.
Deputy Terry Nenneman responded to the complaint. The deputy took cover after a shot was fired while he was investigating. The deputy, walking toward the camper at the time, took cover, not knowing in the dark whether the shot was aimed at him.
Nenneman had a dispatcher call the Pattersons to find out what was going on, and then he placed Dr. Patterson under arrest.
Jennings said the psychiatrist admitted firing a .22-caliber pistol but said he did so by accident.
“He said he thought the deputy had left, and his tenant was coming back,” Jennings said. “He said he fired it at the ground.”
Newton County Prosecutor Scott Watson said Patterson’s admission provided sufficient grounds for Nenneman to take him into custody.
Officers were called back later after Carol Patterson allegedly went on a rampage with a pickax.
She is accused of damaging the license plate of the vehicle belonging to Hollis with the pickax before leaving it imbedded in the door of the tenants’ apartment.
Watson said she then allegedly tried to run over Hollis and Kimbrough with her vehicle as she sped out the driveway on the way to bail her husband out of jail.
Officers found tire impressions suggesting she’d swung eight feet out of her way in the alleged attempt to hit the two tenants, Watson said.
Neosho police were notified that Mrs. Patterson might be on her way to town, and she was stopped a short time later and taken into custody, accused of driving while intoxicated.
Dr. Patterson was released on $5,000 bond, his wife on $10,000.
Watson said that at this point he does not intend to file an assault charge against Kimbrough. He said evidence suggested that Kimbrough had stuck a finger in Patterson’s face during the initial confrontation, and that Patterson was struck while knocking it away.
He said deputies found no physical trauma to Patterson’s face that might confirm his claim that Kimbrough struck him.