A man who hit his cousin in the head with a hatchet – twice – has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.
The hatchet wielder, Bobby Joe Rutledge, 30, had aggravated assault charges dropped down to reckless assault and was directed to serve 90 days of a three-year sentence.
His jail time comes for his striking his cousin, Khalid Whitaker, in the head twice with a hatchet during an argument at Rutledge’s residence on King Street. Whitaker suffered serious injuries but they did not turn out to be life-threatening.
According to findings of McMinnville Police Department’s investigation, a dispute broke out between the cousins in the pre-dawn hours after they had been attending a party. When police first arrived, they found Whitaker’s grandfather accompanying his injured grandson to River Park Hospital.
“He was in the passenger seat holding a towel to his head and bleeding,” said McMinnville Police Sgt. Kenneth Seagraves.
It was from there police began piecing together what had transpired minutes earlier. According to the grandfather, he was woken up around 1:20 a.m. to a fight going on in his living room between the two.
He told police they began brawling after a party and they were separated following their initial fight. The brawl continued, however, outside the house at which time Rutledge allegedly pulled a large hatchet and struck his cousin in the head with the blunt end. Rutledge then turned the ax around and hit his cousin again, this time striking him in the head with the sharp side.
The fight was broken up by others at the house after the hatchet blows were landed.