Two Bloomington men were arrested Saturday after they were allegedly involved in a fight in which one of them beat a man with a walking cane.
Ethan Dickey, 24, is charged with felony battery. Ricky Hughes, 55, is charged with misdemeanor battery and felony strangulation.
Police responded at about 4:40 p.m. to the 1600 block of West Third Street in reference to a fight, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Cody Forston said. When they arrived, a man walking on the sidewalk with blood on his face and hands waved officers down. Two other men walked closely behind the bloody man.
When an officer asked who had injured him, he pointed out the two men following him. They were later identified as Dickey and Hughes.
The victim told police he had confronted the suspects about taking advantage of someone, and in response, Hughes had pinned him against the side of a tool shed and choked him, Forston said. The victim, who could barely breathe, punched Hughes and broke his eyeglasses.
The victim fled. Hughes, who the victim said was carrying a silver walking cane, could not catch up to him. He gave the cane to Dickey, who chased the victim and struck him in the head four times with the cane. The victim told police the cane broke during the beating. Police could not find pieces of the cane at the scene, Forston said.
One officer noticed a small amount of smudged blood on Hughes, who said he didn’t want to talk about it. He also found a broken pair of eyeglasses on Hughes. Dickey told police he didn’t know what was happening and had just been walking on the sidewalk. He denied hitting the victim.
Officers could not locate independent witnesses of the fight but arrested Dickey and Hughes based on injuries and statements. They were taken to Monroe County Correctional Center.
The victim requested medical attention and was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his head and face.
Jack Evans
