Kids' brave acts honored

April 14, 2008 10:20 pm

— By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department and the county’s 911 dispatch center honored the bravery of three local children Monday by giving them awards and gifts for their composure and quick thinking in the face of two recent crimes.
“This is something we don’t get to do very often in law enforcement: recognize kids for doing something we think is great,” Sheriff Archie Dunn said at a morning news conference at the sheriff’s offices on County Road 180.
Introduced at the news conference were brothers Gavin and Dylan Hall, of rural Joplin, and Whitney Arfin, of Oronogo.
Gavin, 7, and Dylan, 9, were instrumental in breaking up an assault on their mother March 27 at their home west of Joplin. A male acquaintance of their mother’s allegedly began assaulting her and told the boys he would kill her if they did not stay in their bedroom, members of the department recalled at the news conference.
The boys used pieces of their Lincoln Logs set to prop open a storm window, and cut a hole in a screen big enough for Gavin to slip through and run to a neighbor’s house and call 911, they said. A Jasper County dispatcher told how Gavin not only explained what was happening, but also provided the address and a description of vehicles at the home accurately, helping deputies find the home and curtail the alleged violence.
Eric L. Powell, 30, was arrested and is facing a charge of felony domestic assault in the case.
Whitney, 12, was visiting her grandmother last August in Joplin when she was 11 and became the victim of a brief abduction.
Her grandmother, Debbie Shively, said Whitney had been with other children at a neighbor’s place, observing some horses. She left her purse there by accident, and when she went back to get it, the neighbor, Robert D. McGuirk, 39, forced her into his house and into a back bedroom, according to the grandmother and the Sheriff’s Department.
McGuirk blocked the bedroom doorway to keep her from leaving and grabbed her. But, before he could do anything to her, she broke his grip, ran out of the house to her grandmother’s place and got help. Tim Williams, a detective with the Sheriff’s Department, said Whitney managed to protect herself and avoid becoming a victim of a worse crime.
McGuirk was convicted of felonious restraint and was sentenced to five years in prison.
“They’re an inspiration to all kids,” Williams said of the Arfin girl and the Hall boys. “No matter what your size and age, you can still fight back.”

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