Police say bat attack lands man in prison
A Butler man is accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend's father with a baseball bat Wednesday morning in the city.
Butler police arrested Marc A. Pippens Jr., 27, for felony assault in the attack that left the 59-year-old victim hospitalized with a head injury.
Pippens is being held in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail.
Police said they were called about 9:45 a.m. for a report of the defendant hitting Richard Kroll with a ball bat at the home of Kroll's daughter on North Sixth Avenue.
By the time officers got there, Pippens was gone. Kroll was “bleeding heavily” from the left side of his head, according to court documents.
Kroll of Connoquenessing Township told police that he had gone to his daughter's home to remove Pippens, who apparently had been living there, too.
For his protection, Kroll said he took a wooden baseball bat with him. He said he “knows Pippens can be violent,” documents said.
Brittany Kroll, 28, the victim's daughter, on Nov. 15 obtained a temporary protection from abuse order against the defendant, court records showed. But a week later, the PFA was dismissed after she failed to show up at a hearing for a permanent order.
Kroll told police that when he got to the house, he set the bat down. He and Pippens were the only ones there. They eventually tussled during which the suspect allegedly punched Kroll in the face.
The defendant grabbed the bat and struck Kroll on the left side of the head “a couple times,” documents said.
Brittany Kroll recounted that when she got home she saw Pippens standing over her father, who was “laying in a pool of blood on a couch cushion,” according to a police affidavit.
Police said the defendant fled after Brittany Kroll called 911. Officers a short time later arrested Pippens, who was spotted running on the side of a creek bed in nearby woods.
Kroll, who had bleeding cuts on the head, was taken by ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital. His condition was not known.
Police said they recovered the bat, which had blood on it.
Pippens is charged with aggravated assault. His preliminary hearing is set for 10 a.m. Monday.
