Battery charges filed after man is hit with a brick, stabbed in hand
A Hot Springs man was charged with felony battery Tuesday night after he allegedly stabbed another man in the hand with a knife, then began hitting him with a brick.
Andre Jerome Jefferson, 52, of 407 Ashland St., was taken into custody shortly before 9 p.m. at the Hot Springs Police Department where he had been brought for questioning in the incident. He was charged with a felony count of second-degree battery, punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of first-degree criminal mischief, punishable by up to one year in jail, for alleged damages to the victim’s car.
Jefferson, who also had four misdemeanor warrants for failure to appear, was being held on a $9,500 bond and was set to appear Wednesday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 5 p.m. Tuesday, HSPD Officer Anthony Larkin responded to 407 Ashland regarding a Black male wearing a gray shirt and pants who had reportedly stabbed another man sitting in a red 2002 Buick Park Avenue and hit him with a brick.
Larkin saw a man, later identified as Jefferson, who fit the description of the suspect attempting to enter Apt. 107 at that address and witnesses on scene were pointing at him yelling, “He did it! He did it!”
Larkin detained Jefferson and made contact with the victim, age not listed, and asked him about the knife. The man
pulled a large knife from his pants and placed it on the ground stating, “He stabbed me with this.”
LifeNet arrived and administered aid to the victim while Larkin questioned him further. He said he and Jefferson have been “having issues” for over a week and when he arrived in the apartment parking lot that evening and opened his driver’s side door, Jefferson was there and began “stabbing at him” with the knife.
He said he put up his hands to shield the blows and was stabbed once in the left hand. Then Jefferson allegedly used a brick he was also holding and began to strike at him until other residents rushed over and pulled Jefferson off of him.
Officers spoke to two witnesses who reportedly corroborated the victim’s statement and Larkin noted there were blood droplets on Jefferson’s shirt and blood on the outside and inside of the victim’s vehicle.
After being read his rights, Jefferson was asked about what happened and he reportedly said, “Same old (expletive).”
He was taken to the police department for further questioning and reportedly stated two days prior someone had thrown a brick through his window. He said he was unsure who had done it, but the victim had threatened to kill him with a gun in a previous incident.
Jefferson said when he saw the victim pull up in his car he decided he would “put an end to this,” and grabbed a knife and the brick that had been thrown through his window and went outside to confront the victim.
He said he was “so mad when he got to the car he did not remember the sequence of events,” but reportedly admitted he stabbed at the victim and hit him with the brick. He said he then went back inside his apartment, put the brick on his treadmill and came back outside to wait for police to arrive.
The affidavit noted there was “a considerable amount” of blood inside the victim’s vehicle and during the altercation the driver’s door, the trunk, passenger side door and seats were damaged for an estimated total of $500.