WRIGHT COUNTY, Mo. — A Wright County woman is facing multiple charges following an alleged roadside confrontation June 29 that authorities say involved stalking, assault and resistance during her arrest.
Amanda Marcel Keller is charged with first degree stalking, third degree domestic assault, third degree assault and resisting arrest, according to a probable cause statement filed in Wright County Circuit Court.
According to the statement, Wright County Sheriff’s Deputy Trenton Kastning was dispatched to a reported domestic assault at approximately 4:35 p.m. June 29. When he arrived, he reported finding one alleged victim with fresh blood coming from her nose. The woman told deputies Keller was a former romantic partner.
The woman told investigators Keller and others had allegedly been waiting near the end of a Missouri park and then followed her vehicle onto the highway. She alleged the vehicles attempted to block her in before she eventually pulled over.
According to the probable cause statement, Keller allegedly approached the vehicle, argued with the occupants and reached through a window, striking a passenger and knocking a phone from the passenger’s hand while the interaction was being recorded. The passenger reportedly had bruising on her arm.
The driver later exited the vehicle and was allegedly shoved by Keller. The driver told deputies she shoved Keller back in an effort to defend herself and create distance. Keller then allegedly struck the woman in the face with a closed fist, causing her nose to bleed. The woman declined immediate medical treatment but told deputies she planned to be examined by a doctor.
Deputies later arranged to meet Keller at the Mountain Grove Walmart to obtain her account of the incident. Keller told investigators the other woman had gotten out of the vehicle and shoved her before Keller struck her. The deputy wrote that Keller’s account differed from information investigators had previously received and from video evidence he said may have captured part of the confrontation.
The probable cause statement also says another officer had reportedly heard earlier in the day that Keller had threatened to carry out the alleged confrontation, and that a recording may have existed through Wright County dispatch.
When deputies informed Keller she was being taken into custody, authorities allege she refused commands and resisted being placed into a patrol vehicle. The statement alleges Keller pulled away from deputies, threw an elbow toward one of them and continued refusing to enter the vehicle before eventually being placed inside.
Authorities further allege Keller slipped her handcuffs and rolled down the patrol vehicle window before officers were able to secure the restraints again. She was then transported to the Wright County Jail in another deputy’s vehicle.
During transport, deputies reported Keller struck her head against the patrol vehicle cage. At the jail, she was subsequently transported to Cox North in Springfield for medical treatment before being released from the hospital and returned to the Wright County Jail on a 24 hour hold.
Court records show Keller was later granted a $25,000 personal surety bond with special conditions. An arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 25 at 9 a.m. before Judge R. Craig Carter in Wright County Circuit Court.
All charges are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
