Sheboygan, WI (WHBL) - It was all brought on by a meltdown over a lost cell phone.
33-year-old Thomas W. Blackburn of Sheboygan is facing one count of substantial battery after assaulting a “friend” with a claw hammer on September 5, 2015.
Shortly before 9 o’clock Saturday night, Sheboygan police were called to Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center where they spoke with Tony Fish Jr. Fish was being treated for a 3 inch stab wound to his left forearm and several abrasions on his right bicep.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Sheboygan County court, Fish told police that he and Blackburn had been hanging out at a park near the Boardwalk when they decided to visit a friend who lived near the 12th St. and Superior Avenue area. Fish and Blackburn continued to a third location on Pennsylvania Avenue when Blackburn realized that he did not have his cell phone. Fish says Blackburn began looking for the phone and when he could not find it, he became unglued.
Fish alleges that he told Blackburn that he left his phone at one of the other two locations that they previously visited. He says Blackburn responded by walking out to his vehicle where he retrieved a claw hammer and began swinging in a threatening manner -angered about his missing phone. That’s how Fish claims he was wounded by the claw hammer.
Add to that, the criminal complaint also says that immediately after Fish was stabbed, Blackburn returned to the residence where he left his phone. He found the phone then offered to personally "Stitch up” Fish’s arm himself. Fish declined the offer and asked to be taken to the hospital.
In addition to the battery charge, Blackburn is facing one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. The combined charges could land him three years behind bars, if convicted.