WORTHINGTON -- A Worthington man charged Thursday with assaulting a woman with a stick told authorities he didn't know anything about a fight.
Armando Antonio Morales Jr., 19, is charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, second- and third-degree riot and unlawful assembly.
According to the criminal complaint, authorities were dispatched Wednesday night to investigate an alleged assault near Hardee's.
At the scene, officers found a female victim sitting on the sidewalk and crying. She appeared to have bumps and cuts on her head. She told authorities that Morales had hit her with a stick. Near the victim, an officer found a wooden stick about an inch in diameter, which the victim said was what Morales used to hit her.
A pair of eyeglasses and some black sandals were also found, which the victim said belonged to another woman who had been with Morales.
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After being treated for her injuries, the victim told an officer she had been walking with a friend when Morales came by in a vehicle and started yelling at her. There was another car occupied by two of Morales' friends and his girlfriend's sister.
The victim stated Morales threatened to "get" her friend, so she threw her MP3 player at the car. She said the occupants parked the cars and came up behind her.
Morales, she said, tried to get her to fight, and his girlfriend's sister started hitting her. Then Morales put down the baby he was carrying and allegedly hit her with the stick. The girlfriend and one of the other men also tried to hit her, she said, but the man missed because she fell down. The victim said she was struck in the back of the head and passed out.
The woman who had been walking with the victim corroborated her story.
When interviewed, Morales told an officer he wasn't there when the fight took place. He denied being in his girlfriend's car, seeing a fight or seeing anyone with a stick. He later told another officer the victim threw an MP3 player at him, but then his girlfriend dropped him off, then he got his bike and returned and saw the fight. He allegedly told the officer his girlfriend's sister fought with the victim and hit her with a stick.
Morales' girlfriend's sister and one of the men said they had been together that evening and not in the area of the fight. The other man said he was with the first man and denied seeing anything, stating he "didn't want to be involved in any of this."
When authorities spoke to Morales' girlfriend, she allegedly stated her sister had been pushed and when she got to the fight her sister had looked as though she had been beaten up. She denied the glasses or shoes belonged to her.
Bond for Morales was set at $5,000. An application for a public defender was approved.
