Woman faces assault charges
A 50-year-old Butler woman was arrested after a weekend assault that left her longtime boyfriend with a bloody head wound.
The unconventional weapon, city police said, was a wooden statue.
Mary Jane Putnam is being held in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail. She faces felony and misdemeanor assault charges.
Police said the suspected attack happened about 4:45 a.m. Sunday at the defendant's apartment in the 200 block of West Brady Street, where she lives with John Hecker, the alleged victim.
Hecker told police that Putnam is his girlfriend of eight years.
He recounted that when she returned to their home she apparently became upset and started throwing items about the apartment, damaging the property in the process, according to court documents.
At some point, police said, she grabbed a wooden statue and bludgeoned Hecker with it repeatedly, at least several times.
The alleged attack left the victim “bleeding profusely,” according to a police affidavit, with an unspecified head injury.
Officers said when they found Hecker, most of his shirt was blood covered.
District Judge William Fullerton arraigned Putnam on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault. Her preliminary hearing was not immediately scheduled.
