Inset: Dara Masterson (Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Arkansas where Masterson allegedly ran over her husband (Google Maps).
A 33-year-old woman hailing from Arkansas stands accused of using her vehicle to run over her husband after they quarreled about their recent breakup, critically injuring him.
Authorities detained Dara M. Masterson over the weekend, charging her with second-degree reckless battery and driving while intoxicated, as per the records.
The Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release stating that deputies responded to a 911 call report of a medical emergency around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. The incident occurred near the 9600 block of White Lane in Lavaca, approximately 150 miles northwest of Little Rock.
Upon arrival, deputies found emergency medical teams already attending to the victim. It was quickly determined that 34-year-old Clayton Masterson had been hit by a vehicle. Subsequently, he was airlifted to a Little Rock hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Deputies discovered Dara Masterson still present at the location and identified her as the victim’s spouse. During discussions with the officers, Dara explained that the couple was separated and that her purpose at the house was to gather some personal items. She recounted how a dispute erupted, prompting her to attempt leaving the premises.
“As she was leaving, she felt threatened, backed up her vehicle, and ran over her husband,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.
Audio from the 911 call placed by Dara Masterson after he suffered his injuries was obtained by Rogers NBC affiliate KNWA and provided additional information about the aftermath of the incident.
During the call, which lasted seven minutes, a frantic Dara Masterson tells the dispatcher, “my husband was mad at me,” adding, “he told me to leave and I backed up and he was on the car and he’s hurt.”
As the dispatcher transfers the call to EMS, Dara Masterson can be heard screaming, “I don’t know if he’s alive!” She also repeatedly screams her husband’s name and pleads for assistance.
“He told me to leave and I backed up in the car and I hit him,” she reiterates to the EMS dispatcher.
Dara Masterson also states multiple times that her husband’s father was at the scene when the incident occurred.
Asked if she ran “all the way over” her husband, Dara Masterson shouts, “I don’t know” in response.
“I didn’t want to leave,” she says. “He tried to tell me to leave and I didn’t want to leave.”
She tells the dispatcher that her husband is bleeding from his mouth and nose and that he was breathing, but she wasn’t sure if he was breathing “normally.”
“I don’t know how alive he is, I’m so scared!” she shouts about three minutes into the call before repeating that she did not mean to run over him.
The SCSO Criminal Investigation Division took control of the case, placing Dara Masterson under arrest a short while after her husband was hospitalized.
Authorities said that since being admitted to the hospital, Clayton Masterson’s condition has been upgraded to stable.
Dara Masterson is currently being held in the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center on $10,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
