An Owensville man wanted on three outstanding felony $50,000 cash-only-bond warrants was subdued and arrested in the street outside his home Thursday after spraying lawmen in the face with a fire extinguisher as they entered his home.

Gasconade County Sheriff deputies and Owensville police joined forces Nov. 3 to serve the warrants on Thomas Eric Hyde, 59, at his residence in the 300 block of West Washington Avenue. Hyde reportedly hid behind an interior wall of his home and stepped out from behind, it spraying three lawmen with the extinguisher as they entered.

“He was waiting around the corner,” said Owensville Det. Rob Green afterward.

A deputy rushed him. He was tazed inside the residence by a city officer and a deputy. The group brought Hyde out the front door and into the street where he was handcuffed. One sheriff’s deputy and a city police detective were examined by ambulance personnel for exposure to the extinguisher’s spray.

Both were coughing but recovered and participated in the eventual warrant search where drugs were recovered from Hyde’s residence later that evening.

The effort to arrest Hyde began around 2 p.m. when Hyde became “non-compliant,” according to Sheriff Scott Eiler.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office had become involved recently in three separate cases being investigated against Hyde after he made what were described as repeated threats to county law enforcement personnel, some of their families, and elected officials including a county judge and the prosecuting attorney.

A Jefferson County judge was assigned the case which had been transferred out of Gasconade County’s circuit court to Franklin County’s court, which is in the same circuit.

Court records indicate Hyde’s bond on the cases was revoked on Oct. 31 and new warrants were issued Nov. 2 by Judge Katherine Michelle Hardy-Senkel. Each carried a $50,000 cash-only bond.

Hyde is charged with six felonies and five misdemeanors between the three cases dated Feb. 10, 2021, May 11, 2020, and Sept. 23, 2019. Among the most serious charges are an E felony alleging first-degree harassment, an E felony for resisting arrest in an attempt to strike a city police officer with his vehicle, an E felony another first-degree harassment charge, a D felony for second-degree assault, and two unclassified felony counts of armed criminal action.

In the 2019 case, court records list the case status for as “suspended by judge” for “mental eval” of Hyde. A mental evaluation was also noted as being filed in the Oct. 27, 2021, docket for the case. Hardy-Senkel as assigned to the case by the Missouri Supreme Court on May 18. 2021.

In that case, Hyde is alleged to have sent 13 text messages at all hours of day and night to a man identified only by his initials during a three-day period in September 2019.

When a deputy went to question Hyde about the threatening texts, Hyde admitted to making the texts and then resisted arrest when told he was under arrest. He also made other threats about arming himself with a BB gun to get lawmen to shoot him. And he is alleged to have made threats to law enforcement personnel involved in his case.

Incidents leading up to charges also included confrontations with members of the public and law enforcement including threats Hyde made with bear repellent spray and a Feb. 10, 2021, road-rage incident where he followed a man to his home south of Owensville on a snow-covered Route EE as the man’s child slept in the back seat.

At the time of the 2021 incident, Hyde was on probation for receiving stolen property and had a criminal record including felony convictions for two violations of Ex Parte Orders, two burglary cases, receiving stolen property, and stealing. 

He is accused of traveling up behind the motorist in a threatening manner with high-beam headlights in use and an “aftermarket lightbar” turned on. During a face-to-face confrontation, the victim recognized Hyde from a prior interaction with him.

County and city lawmen were prepared for the worst when they went to serve the warrants on Thursday.

“Hyde barricaded himself in his residence and refused to exit the residence peacefully,” Eiler’s report noted. “Deputies and officers on scene began attempts to gain entry to the residence. Hyde continued his noncompliance and made numerous attempts to assault by throwing items towards deputies and officers on scene.

“Once deputies gained entry into the residence, Hyde assaulted deputies and officers by deploying a fire extinguisher. Deputies and officers then engaged in a physical altercation with Hyde as he continued to resist arrest and assault law enforcement. 

“Following the physical altercation with Hyde, he was ultimately taken into custody on his outstanding felony warrants. Hyde was transported to Mercy Washington for a medical evaluation.”

He was declared fit for confinement and  was transported to the Franklin County Adult Detention Facility in Union without further incident, according to Eiler. Lawmen requested and received a warrant to search the residence after viewing narcotics and what appeared to be an explosive devise in plain view during their apprehension of Hyde.

Lake Area Narcotic Enforcement Group (LANEG) personnel and members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Bomb Squad were called to assist.

“As a result of the search, multiple containers of suspected methamphetamine, marijuana, one digital scale, numerous items of paraphernalia commonly associated with the consumption of illegal substance, one piece of surveillance equipment, and one loaded firearm were located and seized as evidence,” according to Eiler. “The suspected explosive device was later determined not to be an explosive device.”