A 27-year-old former Rolla resident pleaded innocent in court Friday to charges of first-degree assault involving serious physical injury and armed criminal action.

Jack N. Kirkpatrick, presently a resident of Washington in Franklin County, was arrested May 19 by Phelps County deputies in connection with an assault that occurred in Rolla in March, 2008.

The complaint against Kirkpatrick was filed, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in January.
After his arrest, Kirkpatrick was incarcerated in the Phelps County Jail with a cash or surety bond of $100,000. As of Friday, Kirkpatrick remained in jail.

According to a probable cause statement filed with the court in June 2008, Rolla Police Department officers responded to a report of an assault that occurred outside of the Miner’s Inn in the 100 block of West 13th Street.

The alleged victim, who was treated and spent several days recuperating in the hospital, sustained injuries to his head, neck and back after he was accosted outside his residence. He identified Kirkpatrick as the person who hit him in the head with a pipe, while a second suspect restrained him from behind, according to the probable cause statement.

Witnesses also reported seeing the victim being assaulted with either an aluminum bat or a metal pipe.

The assault ended when people at the scene announced the police had been called, and the two suspects fled on foot from the area.

The defense counsel for Kirkpatrick filed motions for a bond reduction and to shorten the time to a case review and a motion hearing, which is scheduled at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 30, at the Phelps County Courthouse.

If convicted, Kirkpatrick could face from 10 to 30 years imprisonment as punishment for the class A felony of first-degree assault.