CLEARFIELD – A Woodland man who fled the area to avoid being sentenced on assault charges and a trial for felony firearm charges, was sentenced to state prison Wednesday.
Ralph C. Best, 60, was returned to the area recently after being found in Osage County, Oklahoma where he was apprehended for a traffic violation, according to media reports.
In June he was found guilty of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault. He was scheduled for sentencing in July but he failed to appear in court.
A trial for his firearm charges was held in August without him. Bench warrants for his arrest were issued in both cases.
In addition, he is facing charges in a separate assault case and failed to show for jury selection in August.
During a special sentencing hearing Wednesday, Best stated that he has never been able to tell “my side of the story.” He claimed the victim had a drug problem and he was “trying to help her.”
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman reminded Best that he testified in his June trial, where Best told “the jury the same thing” and then didn’t show up for his other trial.
Best continued to play the victim, stating “I’m not the bad guy they are making me out to be.”
He said he left the area to “find myself” and commented that this case had “destroyed” him.
At one point, Best actually said he felt worse “than Jesus when he died on the cross.”
Deputy District Attorney Trudy Lumadue noted that Best’s record included eight assaults going back as far as 1984.
“I don’t know what it will take for Mr. Best to stop beating women,” Lumadue said, adding she hoped this sentence will make a difference.
Attorney Ryan Dobo, who was representing Best, asked Ammerman to consider not running the sentences on the various charges consecutively although he noted that Best or anyone else is not entitled to “volume discounts.”
Ammerman sentenced Best to serve four to eight years in state prison with 12 months probation for felony person not to possess a firearm.
He was sentenced to serve an additional two to four years for misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, bringing his total prison sentence to six to 12 years.
In the other assault case, which is still pending, Ammerman lifted the bench warrant and set his bail at $3,000, unsecured.
The charges in the first case stem from an incident on June 9, 2021 in Lawrence Township when Best entered the victim’s residence and began accusing her of sleeping with other men.
According to the affidavit, he took a gun from her and laid on top of her on a bed.
“Best took the revolver and put it against her left temple” and again yelled for her to reveal the names of the men with whom she had been sleeping, the criminal complaint states.
She told police she heard a “click,” which she believed was the hammer of the revolver being cocked back.
After more demands, he put the gun under his chin and threatened to shoot his own “head off” if she didn’t give him the information.
She repeatedly asked for her gun back and eventually he did hand it back to her.
He then grabbed her by each arm, pinning her against the bed and continued to make his demands.
He tried to get the gun back from her and during their struggle, the gun went off and he yelled that she had shot him. He then left the residence.
The affidavit in the pending assault case details how Best allegedly struck a woman five to six times in the head after accusing her of having his food stamp card.
Best is expected to be facing charges for eluding capture by leaving the area, but nothing has been filed as of Wednesday afternoon.
