Cass Lake Man Charged After Striking Man With Hammer

A 37-year-old Cass Lake man struck another man in the head with a hammer during a late-night fight at a residence, causing a bleeding wound and sending the victim to the hospital, according to the complaint.

Curtis Kent Brown Jr., 37, faces three felony charges: two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm.

According to court records, law enforcement responded at about 1:40 a.m. on September 27 to a report of an assault involving a hammer at a residence in Cass Lake. While officers were on their way, dispatch advised that the victim had left the residence and would meet them at a nearby intersection.

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Officers arrived and found the victim bleeding from the back of his head and with blood on his shirt. The victim told officers that Brown had been drinking and fighting with people in a camper at the residence. He said Brown hit him with a hammer and at one point was also holding a golf club.

The victim reported that Brown had been fighting with another man inside the camper. When the victim tried to break up the fight, Brown became upset and they began yelling at each other. The victim admitted he spit in Brown’s face, after which Brown swung a hammer at him. The victim ducked but was struck on the back of the head.

He ran from the scene and went to a relative’s home to call 911. EMS treated the victim at the scene and transported him to the hospital, where deputies observed a half-inch laceration and swelling on the back of his head.

A witness told deputies she heard yelling, went outside and saw Brown and the victim pushing each other. She saw Brown holding a hammer, turned to get her phone and when she looked back, the victim was holding his head. The witness grabbed the hammer from Brown and tossed it in front of the residence. Deputies were unable to locate the hammer during their search.

Another witness gave a similar account to the victim but did not see the entire altercation. Deputies also spoke to a woman at the residence who said she had been struck in the upper lip during the fight but did not believe it was intentional and was unsure who hit her, suggesting she may have been struck by an elbow while trying to separate Brown and the victim.

Deputies attempted to locate Brown at the residence and in the camper but did not find him. Later efforts to contact him for a statement were unsuccessful.

The charges allege one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon causing substantial bodily harm, one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm.

The case was filed September 29 in Beltrami County District Court.