Joplin man granted probation in assault of girlfriend
Apr. 13—A Joplin man pleaded guilty Monday to a felony assault of his girlfriend in a deal allowing him probation.
Austin C. Webb, 26, changed his plea to guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court on a charge of second-degree domestic assault in a plea agreement calling for a five-year suspended sentence. Judge David Mouton accepted the plea bargain and assessed the defendant the agreed-upon sentence with five years of probation.
The conviction pertains to an arrest of Webb on Aug. 20 after an incident in Carthage during which he shoved his girlfriend into a wall and punched her in the face, according to a probable-cause affidavit. He purportedly fled Carthage after the assault and was arrested by police in Joplin.
The affidavit states that the girlfriend may have suffered a broken nose and dislocated shoulder.
