Woman accused of hitting man with cinder block

A Cape Girardeau woman faces a charge of first-degree domestic assault in connection with an altercation during which she is accused of repeatedly hitting a man in the back of the head with a concrete block.

Barbara Pinkston, 49, was arrested Tuesday after police responded to a report about a domestic disturbance in the 300 block of Mason Street, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

After talking to Pinkston and a male victim, police determined Pinkston had struck the victim in the back of the head with a concrete cinder block, causing a severe laceration, Hickey said in an email message Wednesday.

The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of the injury, which did not appear life-threatening, Hickey said.

According to a probable-cause affidavit filed in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, the victim told police he had been napping on the couch in the front room of the house Tuesday afternoon when he awoke to find himself covered in blood.

On the back of his head, the victim had a laceration about five to six inches long and three to four inches wide, but he was unable to provide much information about what had happened, the affidavit stated.

After her arrest, Pinkston told police she and the victim had been arguing about her bouncing a check, the affidavit stated.

Pinkston said the argument stopped when the victim went to lie down, but he later got upset, jumped up, hit Pinkston in the stomach, pulled her hair and threatened to kill her and her daughter, at which point she picked up a cinder block near the front door and hit him at least twice, "but she was really not sure how many times she had struck him," the affidavit stated.

Pinkston then called police and went outside, according to the affidavit.

According to a warrant filed in the case, Pinkston "caused serious physical injury to [the victim] by repeatedly striking him on the back of the head with a concrete cinder block."

Pinkston's bond was set at $25,000, Hickey said.

Online court records show no prior offenses for Pinkston or the victim.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, the victim told police he and Pinkston had been together for three years and were in an intimate relationship but did not have any children in common.

Domestic abuse against men is not unusual, but severe violence is.

In a 2009 survey, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 32.9 percent of women and 28.2 percent of men had experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.

According to the CDC, just 2.6 percent of men reported having been beaten, compared to 11.2 percent of women.

Hickey said the case remains under investigation.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

300 block of Mason Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.