A woman in Izard County is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault and possession of methamphetamine following an incident Jan. 20.
According to an affidavit for warrant of arrest, on Jan. 22, Investigator Geoffrey Watts took a report from Marty Webb who stated on Jan. 20, he received a call from his son, Seth Webb asking for help with a vehicle.
After phoning a friend, David Maxwell for help to fix the vehicle, the Marty and David traveled to Seth’s location on Main Street in Melbourne where 26-year-old Brianna Lunsford also resided.
While on the way, Seth was spotted a few hundred yards away from his residence with a dog.
Seth got into the van and told Marty and David to drive because Lunsford was on her way and had a gun.
The group then pulled into a nearby driveway to turn around when Lunsford pulled in behind them blocking them from leaving.
Lunsford could be seen waving her hand, but they could not see if she had a firearm.
The homeowner of the residence whose driveway the vehicles were in came outside and attempted to deescalate the situation.
A male then exited the home and told Marty to pull through the yard in order to leave the property and when he tried to, Lunsford drove around blocking the exit and preventing them from leaving a second time.
The homeowner again came outside to deescalate the situation until Marty, Seth and the friend could leave.
When Watts spoke to David, who stated he believed Lunsford did have a firearm but that he did not see it, but that the incident had made him fear for his life.
Marty stated he too was afraid for Seth’s life due to his relationship with Lunsford and that recently Seth had shared stories of incidents of domestic violence he had endured at the hands of Lunsford.
Marty said he had been told in addition to attacking Seth with a knife, drill and other tools, Lunsford had recently purchased a firearm and had pointed it at Seth on more than one occasion.
Watts noted he was familiar with both Seth and Lunsford due to a high volume of domestic related calls and in times past, Seth was uncooperative with regard to Lunsford in the past.
Later on Jan. 22, Watts received a call from another of Seth’s family members stating Lunsford had left the residence and told Seth he had better be home when she returned so she could decide whether or not to kill him.
Due to the nature of the call, authorities then traveled to Seth’s residence to perform a welfare check and met with Seth who appeared visibly distraught.
He explained Lunsford had been acting erratically over the past month and after purchasing the firearm, had become controlling with it.
Seth voiced concerns about Lunsford and what he described as suicidal and homicidal ideologies and that she had pointed the gun at him at least three times within a months time and had verbally threatened to kill him or herself on more than one occasion.
He noted the most recent occasion had taken place Jan. 20 and corroborated the accounts of Marty and David from that day.
Seth said Lunsford had retrieved the gun just prior to the arrival of Marty and David and that she had waved it around in front of Seth pointing it at him several times, threatening to kill him prior to leaving the residence and walking up the road.
When asked if Lunsford had made threats prior to leaving for work that day, Seth stated Lunsford said he had “better be home when she got home so she could decide if she was going to kill him or not”.
He told Watts he believed she had the firearm with her because he had not seen it in the house.
Due to the circumstances and the belief Lunsford was exhibiting signs of indifference towards human life, officers traveled to Lunsford’s place of work to place her under arrest for aggravated assault and terroristic threatening.
When they arrived, Lunsford was behind a counter and was asked to step outside to be place d under arrest. Lunsford had her hands in her pockets and was asked to remove them several times as there appeared to be several items protruding from her pockets. She was advised if she introduced a prohibited article into the jail she would face additional charges.
Officers assisted Lunsford in removing items from her pockets for officer safety and a blue colored glasses case was removed containing glass smoking device with a burnt crystalline substance inside. Also, a fake car cigarette lighter with a magnet attached to the fake coils was removed and when opened revealed a plastic baggie containing methamphetamine.
After being placed in a patrol vehicle and advised of her rights, Lunsford was asked if there was a pistol in her vehicle. She stated there was and gave consent for the firearm to be removed, she also advised there was possible marijuana as well.
The firearm was retrieved and Lunsford was transported to the Izard County Jail. After undergoing booking protocol, Lunsford was tested for drugs and tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamines, benzoids, marijuana and buprenorphine.
On Jan. 24, Watts conducted interviews with witnesses of the Jan. 20 incident who provided their account of the incident.
As a result, Lunsford has been charged with aggravated assault, a class D felony; Possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony; possession of drug paraphernalia with purpose of inhaling methamphetamine, a class D felony and terrorist threatening in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor. Bond for Lunsford has been set at $20,000 cash.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
