HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 57-year-old Stafford man scheduled for trial for one count of aggravated assault with the intent to commit aggravated battery entered a plea to the charge Monday morning.

Mark Hornbaker is now convicted of going to a home near 56th & Halstead on March 20. He drove onto the property and told the occupant to leave, saying he had been sent by a local church. Hornbaker claimed the victim didn’t own the property, but said they would find him some place to go.

He eventually left the home and went east on 56th. The homeowner walked to the street and onto the grassy ditch on the north side of 56th. Hornbaker then made a U-turn at Halstead, then traveled west and tried to run the homeowner over.

The victim testified at the preliminary hearing that he had to jump out of the way and believes the man was trying to kill him. He grabbed a handgun from his pocket after nearly being run over and fired in the air three times. He thought that might scare the man away from his property.

The first time Hornbaker was seen on the property, he appeared to be cleaning his white Cadillac and was told to leave, but came back about two hours later. That was on March 18.

Hornbaker may suffer from mental problems. He was initially taken to Horizons for a medical check, then to jail. Since that arrest, he has spent some time at Larned State Hospital.

Reno County District Judge Trish Rose set sentencing in the case for Nov. 2.