HOT SPRINGS -- A local man was arrested on a felony warrant Wednesday morning in connection with the stabbing and assault of another man in May.
Gerald Walter Thomas, 48, who lists a Mountain Pine Road address, was taken into custody about 9:45 a.m. at the Garland County Sheriff's Department and charged with first-degree battery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Thomas remained in custody Thursday in lieu of a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a man was brought to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs on May 14 by a female witness and the man stated he had been stabbed by a man he knew as "Gerald the German."
The victim had "significant lacerations" to his left forearm and minor cuts on the left side of his neck and left ear. The affidavit notes he could not be interviewed at that time because he had been sedated by hospital staff because of his injuries.
The woman told police she had driven the victim to the hospital in his truck from her home in the 2100 block of Old Bear Road, according to the affidavit. She said she had been inside when she heard "yelling coming from outside" and walked out to see Thomas, whom she knows, walking toward her neighbor's house and saw the victim bleeding from his left arm.
She said the victim got into his truck to leave, and she got in and made him slide over to the passenger side so she could drive "due to how bad he was bleeding," the affidavit said.
The victim was interviewed May 20 at the sheriff's department and stated he had gone to the woman's home on Old Bear, where he saw "Gerald" standing beside his jeep in an adjacent yard as he arrived.
The victim went in the house and walked to a back bedroom, the affidavit said. He told police that "Gerald" came in and walked back to the bedroom where he was and "started swinging" at him with a large knife, described as about 18 inches long, according to the affidavit.
He said he was able to evade "Gerald" and make his way to the driveway, but "Gerald" caught up to him and "hit him" multiple times with the knife in his left arm," according to the affidavit. At one point, he grabbed a long stick and tried to hit "Gerald" to get him away from him.
The stick broke, according to the affidavit, and that was when the woman came outside and "Gerald" ran away. He said the woman drove him to the hospital, where he required surgery to repair "multiple breaks in his arm."
A warrant was issued May 22 for Thomas' arrest.