Intoxicated man arrested after allegedly attacking his family members with knife
A local man was arrested on felony charges early Tuesday after allegedly attacking two family members with a knife and threatening to kill them.
Jeffrey Allen Hamilton, 50, of 407 Ashland St., was taken into custody around 1 a.m. and charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a family or household member, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of public intoxication.
He was being held on a $5,500 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 1 a.m., Hot Springs police Officer 1st Class Tifani McCauley responded to the residence regarding an assault and made contact with two victims, male and female.
One victim said Hamilton grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer, turned to her and the male victim and began yelling he was going to kill them. They both stated Hamilton raised the knife and swing it at them while yelling threats.
The male victim ran to a bedroom and closed the door and the female victim said she saw Hamilton stab the bedroom door twice with the knife before turning on her again as she was calling 911.
She said he swung the knife at her and then put his hands around her throat and attempted to choke her while she was still talking to the 911 dispatcher. At one point, the victim’s left ring fingernail was broken off, causing her to bleed.
Officer 1st Class Rod West located a small kitchen knife in the grass near where he detained Hamilton outside the residence and noted there was blood on the handle.
McCauley noted the female victim’s hand was bleeding and confirmed the nail was ripped off. She also confirmed there were two gouge marks in the bedroom door where the male victim had tried to hide from Hamilton.
As Hamilton was taken into custody, McCauley noted he had a strong odor of intoxicants about him, was unsteady on his feet and had red, watery, bloodshot eyes.