Poplar Bluff man sentenced to 10 years for carjacking incident

NEW MADRID, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was sentenced to prison Tuesday for carjacking a woman at the Rhodes 101 in the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot in Poplar Bluff.

Nathan Shawn Nipper, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Presiding Circuit Judge Fred Copeland, according to Butler County assistant prosecuting attorney Paul Oesterreicher.

Nipper had pleaded guilty in May to an amended charge of second-degree robbery.

The amended information alleged Dec. 27, Nipper "forcibly stole a 2003 GMC Yukon, owned by Peggy Jarrell."

Nipper originally was charged with the felony of first-degree robbery and leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest.

At the time of Nipper's plea, Oesterreicher said, the state offered a 12-year cap on the sentence Nipper could receive.

Nipper's attorney, public defender Steven Lynxwiler, was asking for probation, Oesterreicher said.

Jarrell, who was present in the courtroom, wrote a letter to the judge "stating she didn't want him to go to prison," Oesterreicher explained. "The judge commended the victim for that [indicating] she was a good Christian, but he felt compelled, based on all the circumstances, to give Nathan Nipper a 10-year prison sentence."

Nipper had been charged in connection with an incident that began at 3:05 p.m. Dec. 27 when Jarrell, 65, of the 200 block of Kathy Lane was waiting in the passenger seat of her Yukon, parked on the south side of Rhodes 101.

Nipper allegedly approached her vehicle, according to earlier reports. Jarrell's husband had just gone into the convenience store.

Jarrell was reading a newspaper when her door was opened by a man she at first thought was her nephew.

"Jarrell stated that Nipper started screaming repeatedly at her to get out of the vehicle," according to police reports. "When she did not comply, Nipper grabbed her and physically dragged her from the vehicle, throwing her to the ground."

Nipper then entered the driver's side of the sport utility vehicle and left the parking lot at a high rate of speed.

As he was being pursued by a Butler County deputy, Nipper lost control of the SUV as he attempted to turn right onto Cravens Road.

The SUV reportedly traveled through the intersection, where it struck a stop sign, an embankment and slammed into The Copa bar at the southeast corner of the intersection.

Nipper, who was injured in the accident, was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment and later arrested.

Jarrell also was taken to the Poplar Bluff hospital for treatment of her injuries, which included a small laceration on her right forearm and a swollen and discolored right hand.