A High Ridge man and Dittmer woman are facing charges from an alleged shooting earlier this year in Arnold. Dale Robert Schaffter, 47, allegedly shot a man in the arm, and Stephanie Ann Carender, 45, allegedly provide false information in an attempt to help Schaffter avoid charges, court records show.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on June 13 charged Schaffter with first-degree assault, a class B felony that carries a penalty of five to 15 years in prison; and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony punishable by three to 15 years in prison, for the shooting that allegedly occurred in March, according to court documents.
Schaffter had previously been charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree domestic assault, both class B felonies, unlawful use of a weapon, a class E felony, and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony, following an incident in May in Dittmer, court records show.
He was arrested on May 30. As of Wednesday, Aug. 6, he was being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court document said.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on June 20 charged Carender with tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison, according to court records.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 6, she was being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court documents show.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, Arnold Police were called just before midnight on March 24 to a home in the 2300 block of Franklin Court. Schaffter allegedly had intervened in a fight between a man and a woman inside the home.
Schaffter and the other man began to fight each other, and Schaffter allegedly got a handgun and shot the other man in the left arm. Schaffter then drove away from the home, the report said.
Investigators allegedly found a shell casing on the floor where the shooting occurred. However, they did not recover a gun, according to the report.
The other man required surgery for a broken bone in his arm, according to the report.
According to a probable-cause statement filed on March 28, Carender provided an Arnold Police investigator with an altered text message to make it appear the alleged victim instigated the fight. She later allegedly admitted to altering the message.
In May, Schaffter allegedly kicked in the front door of a home in the 7700 block of Dittmer Road and began arguing with a woman who he had been in a relationship with. He allegedly grabbed the woman by the neck, and she told investigators that he strangled her until “things turned black,” according to the case’s probable-cause statement.
Schaffter let the woman go, and he then allegedly said he was going to shoot himself. He then drew a gun from his waistband and fired the gun into the ceiling, the report said.