A grand jury will hear the case for at least one of the charges against John B. Arnold Jr. after a preliminary hearing in Starkville Municipal Court.
Oktibbeha County Justice Court Judge Marty Haug, after a hearing that lasted nearly two hours, found there was enough probable cause for a Feb. 16 attempted kidnapping charge against Arnold for the case to move to a grand jury.
Arnold, who was always flanked by at least four police officers during his hearing, is also facing another charge of attempted kidnapping and several charges of contempt of court.
During the hearing, a woman testified she signed an affidavit for attempted kidnapping against Arnold when he tried to check her 6-year-old son out of school. The mother said Arnold first went to Starkville Academy, where he asked if a play was scheduled for the day so he could see her son. He was told there was no play and the child did not attend the school, and was ultimately asked to leave Starkville Academy’s premises.
She said Starkville Academy contacted her after Arnold’s first attempt. She contacted Sudduth Elementary School to warn them that Arnold may come to the school to attempt to get her son. She said she told the school to call her if Arnold made an attempt.
Sudduth Elementary did contact the mother later that day, after Arnold attempted to use a check out computer near the front entrance to get her child.
Arnold, according to the mother and Starkville Police Department Detective John Michael Lay, told officials at Sudduth he was the child’s uncle. They said he claimed to have brought the child lunch before and could call the mother to verify.
However, school officials found that Arnold was not listed as a person with permission to check out the child, and they asked him to leave the premises.
Lay, during his testimony, said he confirmed Arnold had never brought lunch to the school for the child.
‘That is creepy’
During a cross-examination, Starkville Attorney Charles Yoste, who was representing Arnold in court on Wednesday, asked the mother if Arnold could just have been trying to visit her child.
“I guess he could have,” she said, “but he had no permission and that is creepy.”
School Security Officer Rena Stallings said Arnold “fumbled around” with the computer when he first arrived at the school, then left, then returned 10-15 minutes later, when school officials asked if he could be assisted. Arnold then said he was there to see the child.
“Due to the fact that the mother had called, we already knew he couldn’t,” Stallings said. “When he said his name, we knew who he was and asked him to leave.”
Stallings said she and another officer walked Arnold out of the school.
After learning of the attempt at Sudduth, the mother said she called her attorney, who advised her to call law enforcement if Arnold tried to contact her or her family.
The mother then called her mother, who said Arnold had come to her parents’ home and was talking to her stepfather in the kitchen. She called the sheriff’s office and former sheriff Dolph Bryan, and later that evening filed an affidavit against Arnold.
A former romantic partner
During her testimony, the mother said she’s known Arnold, who glared at her and her family as he entered the courtroom Wednesday, for about 12 years. She said he was a “pretty good friend” to her and her ex-husband.
After she and her ex-husband split up, she said she and Arnold got into a closer, romantic relationship for about four months that ended in a “smooth” breakup. She said they had a short business relationship that ended in May 2017, when she blocked his phone number.
At the time, the mother said, she felt Arnold was becoming more paranoid.
“The last time I spoke to Johnny in May of 2017, I felt like his behavior had become more erratic,” she said.
Arnold started attempting to contact her again in early February, first through Facebook messages, then through leaving a voicemail for her.
The mother said Arnold had known her children since they were born, and they even called him “Uncle Johnny,” despite the lack of a familial relationship.
However, she said she had never given Arnold permission to check her children out from school.
Arnold was first arrested for attempted kidnapping and booked into the Oktibbeha County Jail on Feb. 16. He was released on $100,000 bond, then arrested again after attempting to contact the victim’s family. Haug reinstated his bond on Feb. 21 on several conditions, including that he wear a GPS ankle monitor and not make contact with the victim or victim’s family.
Arnold violated both of those terms when, on Feb. 23, he removed his ankle monitor, leading to a two hour manhunt, and attempted to check out a child from Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary School.
He attempted to get out of jail on Feb. 27, when he attacked a detention officer, and was charged with attempted escape and assault on a jail officer.
After that attempt, and what law enforcement officials may have been another attempt late on the night of Feb. 28, Arnold was moved to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. He’s being held without bond for the Feb. 16 attempted kidnapping charge and on a total of $30 million bond for the remaining charges.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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