Inmate accused of biting man's ear
The man accused of shooting up a Butler house in November now is charged with chomping off part of an inmate's ear at the Butler County Prison.
Joshua K. McKenzie, 31, of Pittsburgh bit off a piece of Dominique Gindraw's left ear last month as the two prisoners fought over a television in one of the lockup's housing pods, authorities said.
County detectives Tuesday charged McKenzie with felony and misdemeanor assault in the case.
He has been in the prison since Dec. 3 when he was arrested for opening fire Nov. 17 on a house in the 300 block of Wagner Avenue.
Butler police said McKenzie fired eight rounds from a 9 mm pistol into the house where he apparently went looking for a man he believed had tried to rob his girlfriend in 2013.
A man and woman were in the home but neither was hit by any of the shots. But the 30-year-old woman was struck by flying glass and suffered minor injuries.
McKenzie, a felon, is awaiting trial on felony counts of illegal possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, and other misdemeanor charges.
While in the prison on $150,000 bail for the shooting, McKenzie on Jan. 19 got into an altercation with Gindraw, a state inmate. Gindraw, 28, of Philadelphia in 2009 was convicted of rape in Philadelphia County Court and sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison.The prison fight here began when McKenzie repeatedly unplugged the television set that Gindraw was watching, according to court documents.“Little guy (McKenzie) kept pulling plug on TV and was arguing with 'big guy' (Gindraw) and then it escalated in to 'little guy' attacking him,” one inmate told investigators, a police affidavit said.County Chief Detective Charles Barger noted that Gindraw is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 460 pounds. McKenzie, police identification records show, is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 160 pounds.Despite the tale-of-the-tape mismatch, McKenzie “went after Gindraw fist raised,” another inmate recounted, documents said.The two men exchanged punches and eventually Gindraw put McKenzie in a bear hug. But the smaller combatant would not give up.Another prisoner told investigators, “(I) saw the little guy jump up and I swear he bit (Gindraw's) ear off.”That version was backed up by yet another inmate, whose statement to authorities also included a jab at McKenzie regarding the November shooting.“When (McKenzie) couldn't handle the big dude,” the inmate recalled, “he bit his (expletive) ear off. He can't fight, just like he can't shoot.”Gindraw was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Warden Joe DeMore. The small portion of the ear that was bitten off could not be reattached.
