CLAY CO. – A Flora man who has violated a 2014 Order of Protection numerous times and who was serving a misdemeanor jail sentence for his violations in that case, now had been convicted of a felony charge for violating an OP after a police standoff he was involved in made headlines on Friday, March 18.
According to information filed in the case, the original OP was served on Clay N. Pritchett, 54, of 900 North Olive St., Room 112, Flora, in September of 2014.
Court documents show that he violated that OP Sept. 17, 2014, Sept. 9, 2015, October 21, 2015 and March 17, 2016.
But Pritchett was charged with felony Violation of an Order of Protection after authorities say on March 18 he entered and remained at the residence of Rose M. Pritchett, located at 846 East 3rd St., Flora.
Clay N. Pritchett
Rose Pritchett is listed as a protected person on a March 11, 2016 OP issued against Clay Pritchett.
Entry into Rose Pritchett’s home lead to a call to authorities, who responded in force, as it was reported that Pritchett was armed with what appeared to be an automatic weapon…and that call lead to a standoff between the authorities and Pritchett with Rose Pritchett inside the residence.
The standoff was nothing short of sensational, having been captured on camera as the ILEAS Mutual Aid SWAT team was called to the scene after the matter came up at about 7:20 a.m. that morning.
When police arrived, they were told of the situation with Pritchett and his OP, that Pritchett was inside Rose’s residence, and was possibly armed with a handgun. They also believed he was barricaded inside.
Flora Police Chief John Nicholson said “Officers established a perimeter and attempted to contact (Pritchett) by phone. After approximately four hours of negotiations and the deployment of tear gas into the residence, the SWAT team conducted entry and located (Pritchett) inside.”
They found Pritchett armed with a black handgun, later identified as an airsoft-type pistol, painted to look like a real gun.
Nicholson said less-than-lethal bean bag rounds were deployed at Pritchett, and he was taken into custody, transported to Clay County Hospital for decontamination of the tear gas, and arrested for violating the OP.
He was later charged with not only the felony OP violation, but Felon in Possession of a Weapon or Firearm.
Seeing as how his options were limited, Pritchett opted to go the conciliatory route and on April 6, entered a plea of guilty to both counts. He received three years in DOC as his sentence, with credit for 20 days’ time served in the Clay County Jail, and ordered to pay fines, fees and restitution in the amount of $1,360…none of which, of course, has been paid.
Rose Pritchett was reportedly unharmed in the incident.