Poplar Bluff teen charged with assault following alleged 'stomping'

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A teenager was charged Tuesday afternoon with assaulting a man now recovering in a Cape Girardeau hospital.

Daniel R. Zajicek, 17, of the 1500 block of Coolidge Street was charged with first-degree assault by Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.

The complaint on file with the court alleges on Oct. 16, Zajicek injured Ricky D. Whetsel by "stomping" on his head.

Zajicek is being held in the Butler County Jail on $100,000 cash bond.

The charges against Zajicek stem from an alleged assault at about 10 p.m. Oct. 16 in the 400 block of Vine Street in Poplar Bluff.

When patrolman Dusty Johnson arrived on the scene he found Whetsel, 48, of the 1500 block of Cross Street, lying on the sidewalk and bleeding from his head and face.

According to Detective David Sutton's report, several individuals were interviewed. Zajicek told him he and some friends were standing outside a nearby pool hall when they saw Whetsel allegedly put his hands on a woman's neck.

"[A man] struck Ricky Whetsel in the face with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground," Sutton said in his probable-cause affidavit.

After Whetsel allegedly pulled out a pocket knife, a second man took it from him, Sutton said.

At that point, "Zajicek and other bystanders joined in the assault, striking and kicking Whetsel repeatedly," Sutton said. "During this assault, Zajicek 'stomped' Whetsel's head twice with the bottom of his boot."

Johnson said Whetsel denied knowing any of the men or having a knife.