A Mountain Grove man was arrested by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department and charged with second-degree assault following a domestic fight just before midnight May 4 at a Highway AM residence.
The arresting officer reported that the incident began with the man allegedly trying to gain access into the home with an ax.
When the officer arrived at the scene, the man’s wife stated that her husband was intoxicated after drinking heavily all day and had broken out the door glass and an adjacent window. The woman said she and her two teenage daughters had gone into an upstairs bedroom and barricaded the door, but the man had attempted to gain entry by beating the knob off of the door and bashing a large hole in it with a large sledgehammer.
The children reportedly escaped through a window, but the man then got into the room and raised the sledgehammer as if to strike the woman with it.
The woman stated that the man then dropped the weapon and went into a downstairs bathroom, threatening to kill himself.
The officer observed the sledgehammer and the damaged door before making the arrest. The man was taken to the Texas County Jail and his bond was set at $200,000. A probable cause statement was sent to the prosecuting attorney.