A Brown County man has been charged with two felonies after police say he hit a woman in the hand with a baseball bat when she tried to leave his property.
On Oct. 11, Sgt. Scott Bowling with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department responded to the 2400 block of State Road 46 West for a woman who said she was being kicked out of her home.
Bowling found the victim out by the road, crying and distraught. She told him she was trying to leave, but that James Kowaliuk, 62, wouldn’t let her.
She told Bowling the two had been arguing and that he had struck her hand with a baseball bat the night before. She told police she had raised her arm to block the bat and he hit her hand instead of her head.
Bowling reported seeing a large, light-colored bruise on the back of her right hand along with a darker bruise on her palm.
While the officer was speaking with the victim, Kowaliuk walked up to them, talking on the phone with dispatch. He denied anything had happened.
Kowaliuk was placed under arrest. EMS was called to the scene to check the victim’s hand at her request. Bowling reported that she had a difficult time writing out a witness statement.
She told Bowling she couldn’t call police earlier because of phone troubles, that Kowaliuk wouldn’t let her and that she had tried to call a friend that night to come get her but that Kowaliuk had taken her phone away, according to the affidavit.
Kowaliuk told police that the woman had stabbed him in the wrist. Bowling reported seeing no injuries on his wrists. Kowaliuk then said she tried to stab him three weeks ago and he was defending himself now with a bat.
Kowaliuk was taken to the jail; the woman was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Once at the jail, Kowaliuk told officers that his pacemaker was not working and that he was going to die. A breath test showed his blood-alcohol content to be 0.28, more than three times the legal limit, according to the affidavit.
Kowaliuk was taken to a hospital, but then he refused treatment.
Kowaliuk was charged Oct. 19 with battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, Level 6 felony.
