A Bland man sentenced in 1991 to two consecutive life terms for a 1989 hay knife assault in an Owensville tavern is back in prison as of June 26 following a second set of felony charges filed against him this year, first in Maries and now Gasconade county.

Dennis Keith “Dippy” Dittman, now 65, was incarcerated on July 11, 1991, following his conviction by an Osage County jury of first-degree assault and armed criminal action after seriously wounding  a bar patron at closing time who had gone to the defense of a bartender. Dittman reportedly refused to leave the establishment at closing time. He took an antique hay knife off the wall and used it on the man.

Sentencing in the case, heard in Osage on a change of venue from Gasconade, was delayed for nine weeks after Dittman used a smuggled-in hacksaw blade to cut through bars on a cell window to escape in May of 1991. At the time he went to prison, he was also facing first-degree assault charges for allegedly seriously beating a woman in Maries County on Oct. 5, 1990.

Dittman was released from the DOC on Oct. 3, 2014. He is currently at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center.

On Feb. 21, 2017, Dittman was caught in a bathroom of a residence in Belle which was being raided by the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group, Belle police and Maries County Sheriff’s deputies. He is alleged to have been attempting to flush narcotics down the toilet but was in possession of methamphetamine and an Oxycodone tablet. He was charged March 26 with two felony drug possession charges.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Evan Hane arrested Dittman on the afternoon of June 18 following a pursuit on Highway 28 near Canaan when Dittman fled a traffic stop on 2000 Harley Davidson motorcycle. He had been speeding at 72 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone, according the Hane’s report submitted with the application for a warrant. Dittman was captured after a brief foot chase. He had warrants out for his arrest on the Maries County drug charges from earlier in the spring and a no bond warrant issued by the Board of Probation and Parole as a “parole absconder.”

Dittman was charged with a felony count of resisting arrest by fleeing. He is scheduled for arraignment in Gasconade County’s associate circuit court on Aug. 7.

OPD makes felony warrant arrest

Owensville police on Sunday made a felony warrant arrest of William R. Wyrick, 27, of Owensville. Wyrick was being sought for alleged probation violations.

Wyrick was charged with four felonies in an Owensville police case filed Jan. 8, 2018. He pleaded guilty during a Feb. 1 arraignment that year before Judge I.I. “Ike” Lamke. He was sentenced the same day to consecutive seven-year prison terms on one count of stealing and three counts of forgery. The plea included three separate class D felony cases brought by the OPD.