HOT SPRINGS -- A fourth suspect has been arrested on multiple felony charges in connection with two home invasions at the same residence in June in which one man was beaten and stabbed.
Kenneth Eric Nitchol, 46, who lists an Albert Pike Road address, was extradited to Hot Springs from Sheridan around 4:30 a.m. Saturday on felony warrants for two counts of aggravated residential burglary, punishable by up to life in prison, and one count of second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years.
Nitchol remains in custody on a $50,000 bond and appeared via video in Garland County District Court Monday morning where he pleaded innocent to all the charges. A felony review hearing is set for Oct. 26, and Judge Ralph Ohm also issued a court order barring Nitchol from contact with the victim, his girlfriend or their residence.
Nitchol's alleged accomplices, Christopher William Smith, 33, and Christopher Rian Melancen, 32, were both arrested on June 24 and also remain in custody on a $50,000 bond. Melancen is charged with two counts of aggravated residential burglary and one count of second-degree battery while Smith is charged with one count of aggravated residential burglary, second-degree battery and one count of first-degree false imprisonment, punishable by up to 10 years, for allegedly restraining the victim's girlfriend during the attack.
Nitchol and Melancen are charged with two counts because the men had allegedly forced their way into the same victim's home on the night of June 22 along with a fourth suspect, Michael Allen Harris, 44, of Mountain Pine, but the victim was able to escape. Then Nitchol and Melancen reportedly returned a few hours later on the morning of June 23 with Smith and attacked the victim.
Harris was arrested on July 21 on one count of aggravated residential burglary and remains in custody in lieu of a $35,000 bond.
According to the probable cause affidavits, the victim's girlfriend was interviewed by Garland County sheriff's investigators on June 23 and gave details about both of the attacks at the home on Cozy Acres Road where they were renting a room from a friend.
She said that around 8 p.m. on June 22, three men came to the house which she identified as Melancen, Nitchol and Harris. She said the men broke into the house and then tried to break into the couple's room. She said she pushed a nightstand table in front of the room's door and sat on it in an attempt to keep the door closed.
While the men were pushing on the door to get in, the woman said she heard Melancen say he had a pistol with him. Her boyfriend was able to push the room's air conditioning unit out of the window and climb out and flee to a neighbor's house.
The men were finally able to push the door open, tearing it from its hinges, causing the door to land on the woman. Once the men entered the room and realized the boyfriend had escaped, they left the residence.
The second attack reportedly occurred around 2 a.m. June 23 while the victim and his girlfriend were sleeping in their room. Once again, three men forced their way into the residence and the woman identified the men as Nitchol, Melancen and Smith.
According to the owner of the home, who reportedly witnessed the incident, the men had knocked on the door and he yelled "come in!" and the men entered. Once inside, the three went straight to the couple's room and forced the door open.
The woman said she and the male victim had locked and "fortified" the door after the first incident, but they were still able to get in. Once inside, Smith allegedly grabbed the woman and put his arm around her neck restraining her while Melancen and Nitchol began to punch the man.
At one point during the assault, Melancen allegedly stabbed the man with a large hunting knife in the left calf area. Melancen and Nitchol continued to punch him and then Smith pushed the woman to the ground and struck the male victim with a large club multiple times.
Investigators recovered the club at the residence and the woman identified it as the one Smith had been carrying.
The three men finally left and the woman said she used the nightstand to block the door in case they came back. Once she realized the male victim had been stabbed, she took him to the hospital.
The two arrived at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs where the man was admitted into the emergency room with "a large laceration to his left leg" and multiple bruises and contusions to the head and chest area. Hospital security were notified and in turn called sheriff's investigators after it was determined the attack had occurred in the county.
After talking to the victims and the witness, warrants were later issued for all four suspects in the incidents.