Dexter man pleads guilty to resisting arrest

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Dexter, Mo., man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a resisting arrest charge in connection with a September assault of a Dexter police officer.

Terry W. Mace, 45, pleaded guilty to resisting arrest before Presiding Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp, according to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver.

Mace entered his plea after amended information was filed with the court during what was supposed to be a review of his case.

Sharp ordered a sentencing assessment report be completed by Probation and Parole and set sentencing for 10:30 a.m. May 2.

Sentencing, Oliver said, will be "left up to the judge."

The amended information alleges that on Sept. 12, Kevin Moore, a law enforcement officer, was arresting Mace on suspicion of second-degree assault, and Mace "reasonably should have known that the officer was making an arrest," and for the purpose of preventing Moore from making the arrest, resisted arrest "by using or threatening the use of violence or physical force."

Mace originally was charged with second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer. He had been accused of attempting to cause physical injury to Moore on Sept. 12 by shoving him.

The facts and circumstances of the case, Oliver said, fit the "statutory language" of resisting arrest better than the second-degree assault Mace originally was charged with.

"Also, it was a resolution that the officer, Kevin Moore, was in favor of," Oliver said.

Mace's 21-year-old son, Austin Mace, pleaded guilty in December to the Class C felony of second-degree assault in connection with his role in the assault and was sentenced to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

The younger Mace originally was charged with the Class A felony of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer. He had been accused of causing serious physical injury to Moore on Sept. 12 by striking the officer with a closed fist and causing him to fall against a concrete sidewalk curb.

Moore, a 10-year veteran of the Dexter Police Department, suffered facial fractures and extensive trauma to the right side of his face.

The Maces were charged in connection with an incident that began when Moore and Lt. Larry Patterson responded to a report of a fight in progress on the west side of the McDonald's parking lot/Dr. Kane's office in the 900 block of West Business 60.

Moore, according to Detective Cory Mills' probable cause statement, arrived shortly before Patterson and found a large crowd of people on the south end of the parking lot.

It later was determined Austin Mace, his brother, Aaron Mace, and their father allegedly were fighting, Mills said.

Moore, Mills said, ordered Terry Mace to stop fighting, and the elder Mace allegedly shoved the officer.

Mills said Moore deployed his department-issued Taser, striking Terry Mace, who fell to the ground.

At that point, Mills said, Patterson approached the elder Mace to assist in handcuffing him.

"Just prior to Lt. Patterson contacting Terry Mace, Austin Mace rushes from the crowd toward Patrolman Moore," Mills said. "Lt. Patterson observes Austin Mace has both fists doubled up and was swinging wildly at Patrolman Moore, (who was) unable to see Austin Mace approaching."

Mills said Patterson saw Austin Mace "strike Patrolman Moore on the left side of his face with a closed fist."

Moore, Mills said, became unconscious and fell, striking the concrete edge of the sidewalk with the right side of his face.

Moore, who was nonresponsive and bleeding, was taken by ambulance to Missouri Southern Healthcare and subsequently flown to a St. Louis hospital for further treatment for what Mills described as multiple facial fractures.

Pertinent address:

Dexter, MO

Poplar Bluff, MO