A Missouri man has avoided prison time after pleading guilty in a case that began with an alleged dating website setup and ended with him walking into a police department, where an officer recognized him as a robbery suspect.
William Peairs, 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of stealing a motor vehicle and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, according to Polk County court records.
Peairs was sentenced to a total of 11 years, including 7 years for the theft charge and 4 years for the weapons charge. However, Associate Circuit Judge Jill S. Porter ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning they will be served at the same time. Under the terms of a plea agreement, prison time was waived, and Peairs was placed on five years of probation.
The charges stemmed from an incident earlier in 2025. Court records show Peairs was initially arrested and charged in summer 2025 with stealing a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon, robbery and armed criminal action. The robbery and armed criminal action charges were later dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Police said the case began on Feb. 25, 2025, when the victim traveled to Bolivar, Missouri, to meet a woman he believed he had been speaking with on a dating website. According to court documents obtained by Springfield-based CBS affiliate KOLR and Osage Beach-based Fox affiliate KRBK, which collectively broadcast as “Ozarks First,” the victim was told to pull into an alley for privacy.
Instead of meeting the woman, the victim was allegedly confronted by two men. Police said one of them was Peairs, who allegedly punched the man in the face. Charging documents alleged Peairs then held the victim down in his seat by placing an arm across his chest while holding a knife to his throat.
Authorities said the two men then removed the victim from his pickup truck. Peairs allegedly got into the driver’s seat, while the other man and a woman also entered the vehicle before it was driven away. The charging documents further alleged that Peairs “forcibly stole a wallet and phone” from the victim while armed.
Police said Peairs later walked into the Bolivar Police Department in March 2025 to deal with an eviction matter. While he was there, an officer reportedly recognized him as matching the description of a suspect in the armed robbery reported days earlier.
As part of his probation, Peairs must pay $9,000 in restitution, obey all laws, avoid alcohol and marijuana, have no contact with the victim, consent to searches by law enforcement, and submit to GPS monitoring for five years.