Melissa Ann George – Submitted photo
A Hot Springs woman was arrested on multiple felony charges late Wednesday after allegedly breaking into a Mountain Pine woman’s residence and vandalizing the interior.
Melissa Ann George, 37, who lists a Mountain Pine Road address, was charged with breaking or entering, first-degree criminal mischief and felony criminal trespass, each punishable by up to six years in prison.
George, who lists no prior felony history, was being held on a $7,500 bond and was is set to appear today in Garland County District Court. The criminal trespass charge was filed as a felony because George was previously convicted of misdemeanor criminal trespass on Oct. 26, 2020, in district court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mountain Pine Police Sgt. Ruey Hendrix and Officer Kris Wootten were finishing up taking a report from the female owner, 27, of a home on Eighth Avenue in Mountain Pine that someone had broken into.
The owner noted the door had been pried open, the lock broken and the house was “destroyed,” with Sheetrock damaged in the living room and one wall leading to a bedroom “ripped out” completely. She also noted that earlier in the day she had found two dogs inside the house she had to remove and some items that didn’t belong to her.
She told the officers no one was supposed to be staying there and all the damage had occurred since the last time she was there.
A short time later, Hendrix was patrolling in the area when he noticed a “dim light” coming from inside the residence on Eighth Avenue and that it appeared someone was inside.
He called for Wootten to assist him and the two entered the house and reportedly located a woman, later identified as George, inside with two dogs. She also had several items in her possession, including clothing, that she admitted belonged to her.
She gave the officers a man’s name she claimed owned the property who said she could be there, but Hendrix confirmed the man she named did not own the property. Then George allegedly stated it was “an abandoned house” and that she was “just cleaning it up.”
She denied breaking in and said the door was open and no one was living there and “she was getting cold.” She denied causing any of the damages inside the residence and claimed “it was already like that.”
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