MOUNTAIN LAKE -- A 10-year-old boy allegedly witnessed Bounthon Inthaxay beat another man with the handle of a two-ton jack on Thursday, according to the criminal complaint filed late Friday in Cottonwood County District Court.
When the Mountain Lake Police Department was called to the scene after being notified by dispatch about an assault, they found the victim, identified as Phayboun Khekitisack, lying on the ground. Inthaxay was standing with his back against a garage, and a man who said his son had witnessed the incident was nearby.
The victim was alive but largely unconscious when authorities arrived at the scene. He was rushed to the Windom Area Hospital, where a doctor indicated he had suffered at least three blows to the head. He was airlifted to Sioux Falls, S.D., where he is alive with the aid of a ventilator after undergoing surgery.
Khekitisack was still in the critical care unit as of noon Monday, according to Cottonwood County Sheriff Jason Purrington.
Inthaxay was arrested and brought to the law enforcement center Thursday evening. He told authorities he did not know the victim's name, but said they were working on his truck together and Inthaxay got angry when the victim put oil in the wrong place.
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The 10-year-old witness told an officer he saw Inthaxay get upset with Khekitisack.
According to the boy, while the other man was on the ground, Inthaxay took the jack handle off the jack, hit the hood and side of the truck several times, then hit Khekitisack in the head three times with the handle. Inthaxay then put the handle back in the jack and backed up against the garage.
The witness told the officer Inthaxay was "kind of" laughing, the criminal complaint added.
Upon being questioned by agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Inthaxay said he was not friends with the victim, but had hired him to fix the transmission of his truck. Inthaxay was upset because Khekitisack had not fixed the vehicle correctly.
Inthaxay was charged with first-degree attempted murder-premeditated. Bail was set at $100,000 with conditions. His next court appearance is scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday at the Cottonwood County Courthouse.
