Corn fueled rampage gets Geronimo man $500,000 bond

A Geronimo man is accused of escalating incidents that began with a dispute about a corn crop that investigators said turned into assault and road damage via his tractor.

Cobbed up in jail, he’s being held on $500,000 bond.

Matthew Craig Wyatt, 58, made his initial appearance Friday in Comanche County District Court. 

Investigators first dealt with the situation on Aug. 16 when Wyatt attempted to violate a court order by directing a man to dump harvested corn onto his tractor-trailer, which was denied, Comanche County Sheriff’s Investigator Michael Merritt stated. An additional court-ordered temporary restraining order was issued the next day to keep him from interfering in the corn harvest as well as to not enter, trespass, impair or encroach on any field with unharvested corn remaining, the probable cause affidavit states.

Wyatt also was seen driving his pickup through the unharvested corn, destroying the crop he drove over, Merritt stated. On Aug. 21, the farmer arrived to the corn field to find two flat tires on his combine where the valve cores had been removed, the affidavit states.

That same morning, another person reported he was sitting on his porch when Wyatt began yelling obscenities toward him. According to the affidavit, some of this incident was captured on a cell phone. The next evening, that man said Wyatt drove by and yelled obscenities at him before speeding off. The next day, Wyatt was seen destroying corn crops with his pickup and some of that was captured on video, the detective stated.

It was learned that on Aug. 26, Wyatt had confronted his former partner in a corn field near South Sheridan Road and Oklahoma 36 and threatened her, stating, “I will end you soon,” the affidavit states.

Deputy Michael Medina took Wyatt into custody the morning of Aug. 27 near Southwest 67th Street and New Hope Road.

Wyatt had been attempting to use a tractor as a dangerous weapon and assault another man who was seated in a pickup, the affidavit states. The man told the deputy he’d tried to defuse the situation but Wyatt provoked him and caused him to be ready to use deadly force if Wyatt continued with his tractor, Medina stated.

At first compliant with orders to get out of the tractor, Wyatt reversed course and reached for its steering wheel and another deputy used a Taser to stop him, according to the affidavit.

Investigators later learned Wyatt had damaged the roadway in the 7500 block of Southwest New Hope Road where the one man had videoed his rampage on Aug. 21, Medina stated. He damaged the roadway by releasing his tractor plow, obstructing the street and damaging county property, the affidavit states. It was learned that man had also received a protective order against Wyatt.

As part of his bond conditions, Wyatt must have no contact with any of the alleged victims. Records indicate he returns to court at 3 p.m. Jan. 2, 2024, for his preliminary hearing conference.