Leoma man is arrested for assaulting friend with hammer
Lawrenceburg Now
A Leoma man was recently arrested after he allegedly injured his friend by striking him in the head with a hammer.
Reports filed through the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department indicate that the incident occurred last weekend at a home in the West Point area. At around 11:30 Saturday night, January 27, deputies were called 464 Waterloo Road.
While en route they were informed that the victim of the crime, a forty-seven year old man, had left the residence, pursuing his attacker.
Deputies arrived and made contact with the victim’s wife. They report that the victim returned to the home a short time later. They noted that he had sustained a head injury and that there was a large amount of blood coming from the back of his head. Members of the Emergency Medical Service were dispatched to the scene at that point to render aid.
The victim identified his attacker as thirty-five year old Kip Dylane Buie of 38 Dana Road, Leoma Both he and his wife reported that Buie had been at their home for several hours, watching movies. They said that he had left and they had gone to bed, but that he knocked on their door around fifteen minutes later.
Buie explained that he had left his keys in their shop building, so he and the victim went to search for them. Buie eventually said that he had found his keys in one of his jacket pockets. The victim told deputies that Buie made plans to return the following day.
As they walked out of the shop door, the victim said Buie struck him in the back of the head with a hammer, then struck him a couple of more times on the ear. He indicated that he had his 1927 Colt Argentine .45 caliber handgun in the back of his waistband.
He said he reached for it, but that Buie grabbed it first. He said that Buie was attempting to disengage the safety mechanism so he ran behind the building and yelled for his wife to call 911.
The victim told deputies that he heard his wife yell, so he came out from behind the building. Buie was backing up his vehicle quickly and nearly ran over his wife. He said at that point he grabbed his .22 Marlin rifle from inside the shop and fired one round at Buie’s car as he drove away. As Buie fled from the scene, the victim got into his vehicle and attempted to pursue him.
The victim told officers that he did not know why Buie had attacked him. He said they had never had an argument. He indicated that the hammer belonged to him and that it had been lying on a table about three feet away from the shop door.
The victim was transported to Southern Tennessee Regional Health Systems where it took eight stitches to close his head wound.
Deputies later located Buie’s vehicle, abandoned on Granddaddy Road. They searched the area, but were unable to locate him at that time. Warrants were issued against him, charging him with the crimes of aggravated assault, theft of property and reckless endangerment.
It was around 7:00 the following morning when a deputy reported spotting Buie walking along Gore Road. He was subsequently taken into custody.
Buie was searched and deputies report finding a bottle that contained several pills. He was transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center where he was booked under the previous charges, along with one count of possession of a Schedule IV narcotic.
