Inset: Charles Cooper (Polk County Sheriff's Office). Background: A Missouri middle school where Charles Cooper allegedly attacked a driver who hit his dog (Google Maps).
A Missouri man at a a middle school basketball game was allegedly attacked by a person who claimed the victim hit his dog with his car.
Cops say the alleged dog owner beat the victim with a metal flashlight and punched him repeatedly while he was out in the parking lot, telling him "I want to hear you cry" and "I'm going to make you bleed."
"You made my dog bleed internally, now I'm going to make you bleed internally," Charles Cooper told the 21-year-old victim while pummeling him, according to court documents.
"Go ahead and cry," Cooper allegedly said. "I want to hear you cry."
Police say the attack unfolded at Pleasant Hope Middle School in Polk County. The victim was there for a basketball game and went out to the parking lot "for some air" after getting "irritated with how the game was going," according to a probable cause statement.
"Charles was standing next to the road in front of the school and began approaching him and yelling, 'You hit my dog and ran away,'" the statement alleges. "[The victim] stated he hit something with his car on the way to the game, however, he did not know it was a dog."
Cooper was allegedly wielding a metal flashlight and used it to attack the victim and knocked him to the ground. Cooper continued to beat him after he fell and told him, "You hit my dog and ran away," according to the probable cause statement.
Witnesses told cops that they saw the alleged attack unfold while entering the gymnasium during the basketball game. A woman who witnessed the beatdown "stated she began yelling at [Cooper] to stop, to which the male responded, 'No, he hit my dog,'" according to police.
The victim suffered multiple injuries and was hospitalized. Cooper was charged with first-degree assault by "attempting to cause physical injury to another person under the influence of sudden passion," according to the court documents. He was also charged with armed criminal action.
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