The lawyer for E. F. Fitchpatrick, 43, filed the venue change motion July 6 in Newton County Circuit Court.
Fitchpatrick was arrested after a two-hour standoff at the Econo Lodge on Range Line in Joplin. He was only a few months removed from his last stay in a federal penitentiary.
Fitchpatrick's arrest was detailed in a news release issued by the Joplin Police Department:
On March 1st, 2017 at 3:48p.m. officers with the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team were attempting to serve a search warrant at the Econo Lodge Hotel, 3510 South Range Line Road. As officers attempted to make entry into the second floor room a gun shot (s) was fired at the officers through a window striking Jasper County Deputy Nolan Murray. Deputy Murray, who was wearing a bullet resistant vest suffered injury from the gun shot and was transported by EMS to Freeman Hospital. Officers on scene requested assistance through Joplin Dispatch.
Officers with the Joplin Police Department arrived and a SWAT operation was activated. After failed attempts to establish contact with the suspect in the room, officers deployed chemical munitions into the room. EF Fitchpatrick Jr (43) of St. Louis, exited the room and was taken into custody and transported to Mercy Hospital by EMS.
When Fitchpatrick was arrested, he was only a few months out of prison.
Court records show Fitchpatrick was sentenced to 37 months on prison in 2012. He was released early and placed on probation for one year, but was not able to make it stick.
On two different occasions, the latest on July 6, 2016, Fitchpatrick's probation was revoked and he was returned to prison. Each time he was sentenced to six months. After the second stay, he was free and clear.
A motion for a detention hearing filed November 18, 2010, in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri offers a breakdown of Fitchpatrick's felony convictions:
The defendant has prior felony convictions for Tampering with Service Utility, Burglary, and Possession of an Illegal Weapon in March 1991, Possession of an Illegal Weapon in March 1995, three counts of Forgery in November 1998, and two counts of Distribution of a Controlled Substance in May 2005. The defendant is presently incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections as a result of a parole violation predicated on this pending case, and is therefore not eligible for pre-trial release.
Online court documents also show Fitchpatrick being charged numerous times with domestic assault and on two occasions, in 2000 and 2005 had protection orders entered against him.
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