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The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 38-year-old Robert Eugene Finch, JR. of Mountain Home, on a charge of Attempted Murder after investigating an incident reported Wednesday, March 30.
The Baxter County 911 Center notified the Sheriff’s Office at approximately 3:52 p.m. Wednesday that they had received a cell phone call from a female who kept saying, “Don’t kill me.” The 911 Center traced the call to a location on Baxter CR 413 in the Midway area.
Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to that area. Upon arriving, they found clothing items and some paperwork identifying who was believed to be the victim involved in the call.
It had been raining all day, but the items they found were dry as if they had just been left there. A person living in the area gave deputies a description of the vehicle that had been there, being a green Ford pickup truck with a white fender or door.
This information was broadcast to all officers by radio.
The victim had previously been involved with law enforcement and had indicated she was staying at a motel in Mountain Home. Officers arrived at this motel at approximately 4:29 p.m. and found the victim there. The victim was injured and in need of medical care.
The victim told officers that she had picked up her boyfriend, identified as Robert Finch, from work, and he started an argument with her. The victim alleged that while on a dirt road, Finch pulled out a knife that he carries with him and was trying to stab her and said he was going to kill her.
The victim managed to place the call to the 911 Center and opened the truck’s door to get out. The truck was still moving.
Finch then allegedly grabbed the victim’s arm and pushed her out of the truck while it was still in motion. Finch is then alleged to have grabbed the victim’s cell phone. He then allegedly got on top of her and hit her in the head with a rock, again saying he would kill her.
According to the victim, Finch then agreed to take the victim to the hospital to get medical attention. They made it into Mountain Home.
The victim then claims to have jumped out of the truck at a stop sign, with Finch still saying he would kill her, and she escaped from him.
After the victim was found at the motel, she was taken by ambulance to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home to treat her injuries.
Officers from several agencies began searching for Robert Finch and the truck he had been driving. The truck was found at the residence of one of Finch’s relatives on Eighth Street in Mountain Home, but Finch was no longer there. Sheriff’s Investigators prepared an affidavit for a warrant for the arrest of Finch and presented it to a Circuit Judge, who approved the issuance of a warrant.
Thursday afternoon, March 31, at approximately 5:24 p.m., officers found Finch back at the residence on Eighth Street in Mountain Home and arrested him there. He was then transported to the Baxter County Detention Center, where he has been incarcerated on one count of Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder in the First Degree and as a Habitual Offender.
His bond has been set at $250,000. Documentation indicates that Finch has four previous felony convictions on his record, one of which was for Felony Domestic Battery.
