Suspected assailant arrested in violent Monett Repurposed Faire incident

Detectives track homeless subject from site, now housed in Barry County jail
Strategic detective work led to the arrest of a subject who is believed to be responsible for stealing from the Monett Repurposed Faire and assaulting the person monitoring the grounds overnight.
Craig J. Henson, 45, of Monett, was arrested by Monett police after the assault. He is being held in the Barry County jail in lieu of $15,000 cash bond. Henson faces charges of felony robbery. Additional charges are pending through the Barry County prosecutor’s office.
According to Monett Police Lt. Dennis Camp, Detectives Juan Salazar and Brian Brown followed up on the incident wherein a 61-year-old female grounds monitor for the festival came upon a subject at 5:55 a.m. on Aug. 25 who appeared to be stealing merchandise from vendors. The monitor confronted the subject, who assaulted her with his fists, then fled west on a bicycle into the twilight. The festival staffer received serious injuries and was treated at the scene.
Detectives reviewed video of the area, finding evidence that the subject had staged items for removal from the festival.
Initially officers suspected Laane Sneed, 28, who had an address of record in Monett. Sneed was located by a Barry County sheriff’s deputy at 1:19 p.m. on Aug. 27 on Farm Road 1060, west of Monett. The deputy stayed with Sneed until Monett officers could arrive and take him into custody. The investigating detectives interviewed Sneed and ruled him out as a suspect.
Returning to the pavilion, detectives walked the crime scene, Camp continued, and strolled west, following the railroad tracks for about half a mile behind Main Street Feed and the V.B. Hall Antique Mall. There they encountered a man who matched the description of the subject.
“The detectives approached him,” Camp said, “and noticed he had injuries consistent with having been in an altercation. They asked him about it, and he admitted having been in an altercation the previous evening.”
The detectives asked Henson to come to the police station for a further interview, after which he was arrested. Camp reported Henson has “an extensive criminal history, including stealing, assaults and DWIs.” He was subsequently taken into custody and held in the Monett jail until charges were filed by the county prosecutor.
Henson is classified as an “unhoused” individual.
“Monett police thank the sheriff for assistance in the investigation in locating and the capture of Mr. Sneed,” Camp added. “The officers responding did a fantastic job gathering and preserving evidence that further assisted in the identification and capture of Mr. Henson.”