Deputies seek man suspected of hitting 2 people with wrench

An Advance, Missouri, man hit his ex-girlfriend and his brother with a ratchet wrench during a domestic dispute Dec. 10, sheriff’s deputies said.

The Scott County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Malachi D. Knight, 22, with two counts of second-degree assault, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree misdemeanor property damage.

Knight was at large Thursday, and Scott County deputies were searching for him, Sheriff Rick Walter said.

Knight’s bond was set at $7,500 cash or surety.

The female victim said Knight punched her and kneed her in the face on the evening of Dec. 10 when he entered her residence in the 3600 block of Highway 77 in Benton, Missouri, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Sgt. Charles Pratt.

Knight threw the victim’s phone into the roadway, while the victim followed him south on Highway 77, Pratt wrote. Knight then hit her in the left side of her head with a wrench, according to the statement.

Pratt noted a contusion to the victim’s forehead, swelling to the left side of her face and a laceration to the left side of her head, he wrote.

Knight’s brother attempted to stop him from hitting the female victim, but Knight struck him in the head with a ratchet wrench as he started walking out of the back of the residence, according to the statement. Pratt noted a cut to the back of the male victim’s head, he wrote.

Pratt talked to a witness who said Knight pushed a 5- or 6-year-old child to the floor as he entered the living room of the house, according to the statement.

The witness said the child was uninjured, but the witness was worried about the five other children, ages 5 months to 10 years, who were in the house, according to the statement.

Pratt responded to the house at about 8 p.m., but Knight had fled the scene by the time he arrived, he wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

3600 block Highway 77, Benton, Mo.