By Cody Neuenschwander
Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
KOKOMO, Ind. – A felony battery charge was filed recently against an incarcerated Kokomo man, whom deputies say put a corrections officer in the hospital after punching him multiple times in the face and head.
Bobby L. Bowman III, 36, was served a warrant Friday for battery resulting in bodily injury, a level 5 felony. He’s being held in the Howard County Jail without bond, and is facing previous, unrelated charges of attempted criminal confinement, intimidation, domestic battery by means of a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness, habitual criminal offender and resisting arrest.
The Tribune reported in November Corrections Officer Evan Fiscus, 26, was hospitalized at Community Howard Regional Health, where he was found to be suffering from a concussion, after an altercation with Bowman.
A probable cause affidavit obtained Monday revealed more information about the incident, stating Fiscus and Bowman’s altercation started over a food tray.
On Nov. 9, Fiscus wrote in a report that a malfunctioning food tray slot on a cell door required the entire door to be opened to Bowman’s cell so Fiscus could collect food trays inside. Fiscus ordered Bowman to bring him his food tray, as he stood at the doorway of the cell. A press release from the sheriff’s department released immediately following the incident stated Bowman was being held in a protective custody unit.
Bowman was angered when Fiscus asked him to hand him the tray, documents state, and he began to swear at Fiscus when he kept asking to be handed the tray.
“I am not a [expletive] dog, you can’t tell me what to [expletive] do,” said Bowman, according to court documents.
Fiscus removed OC spray from his belt, and advised Bowman again to hand him the trays, prompting Bowman to say, “If you [expletive] spray me with that stuff, I will [expletive] kill you,” according to documents. Fiscus deployed the OC spray, hitting Bowman in the forehead, and Bowman charged at Fiscus.
The corrections officer had his back to glass as Bowman allegedly struck him in the temple, jaw and neck in a flurry of punches. Fiscus escaped into an adjacent room, with Bowman following, punching him four more times, Fiscus said in his report.
A sheriff’s department sergeant saw the altercation and ran to intervene, with the two managing to get Bowman on the floor and in handcuffs.
Fiscus wrote he began to black out, and he was transported to Community Howard Regional Health and was released later that day.
Bowman was originally behind bars for an incident in July where he allegedly kept a woman confined while he was armed with a roughly foot-long knife.
That altercation happened inside the woman’s residence, and began as an argument, which escalated when Bowman pulled the knife from behind a couch cushion. Documents state Bowman held the woman hostage for about 30 minutes before leaving the residence.
The woman contacted authorities, and Bowman was arrested on a warrant in August.
©2017 the Kokomo Tribune (Kokomo, Ind.)