Man accused of pointing gun at officer waives hearings in two assault cases
Jun. 21—A Joplin man accused of choking his girlfriend May 11 and pointing a gun at a police officer in another domestic conflict a week later has waived his preliminary hearings in both cases.
Bobby A. Ryan, 45, waived the hearings Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court and was ordered bound over for trial on a charge of second-degree domestic assault in the first case and counts of first-degree assault, resisting arrest and armed criminal action in the second.
Ryan was arrested on the domestic assault charge after allegedly choking and pulling the hair of Kendra K. Mynatt, 36, a girlfriend he had been living with for nine weeks and has a child in common, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
On May 18, officers went to Ryan's home on South Northpark Lane after Mynatt reported that he had sent her a text message informing her that he was burning her clothes. An affidavit filed in that case states that the officers located Ryan in his backyard burning clothes and armed with a handgun that he raised as they approached and ordered him to drop the weapon.
The affidavit states that no shots were fired and that Ryan did eventually drop the gun. But he continued to resist arrest, ultimately forcing officers to deploy a stun gun to take him into custody, according to the document.
The defendant's initial appearances on the two cases in a trial division of the court are set for July 24.
Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.
