By: Patti Weaver

(Stillwater, Okla.) — A bench warrant was issued Friday for the arrest of a Cushing man for failing to appear in court on a charge of punching a male relative, who received a fractured nose and a concussion, court records showed today.

Billy Wayne James, 27, had been released from the Payne County Jail on June 29 on a personal recognizance bond after being jailed on a charge of aggravated assault and battery.

James had been arrested at 9:10 pm on May 10 in the 700 block of E. Main Street in Cushing , a police affidavit said.

Cushing Police Officer Kyle Wright had been dispatched about eight hours earlier to the 800 block of E. Maple Street in Cushing on an assault report, his affidavit said.

A female relative of James claimed that he “came through the door of her sister’s residence, punched her husband in the face, and then took off on foot east down the alley,” the affidavit alleged.

“We were unable to locate James at that time,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.

When the officer saw the victim at the Cushing hospital, he “had blood on his face and an open wound on his left eyebrow that was bleeding,” the affidavit said.

The victim said he was getting water at a relative’s house when “Billy James came through the door and punched him in the face, then laughed at him and took off down the alley,” the affidavit alleged.

When the officer got James out of his holding cell the next morning to get his side of the story, “James stated that he did not really have anything to say at this time,” the affidavit alleged.

The victim said “the hospital told him that he had a mild concussion, as well as a fractured nose,” the affidavit said.

The victim said “he believed James would try to kill him,” so the officer contacted a domestic violence hotline, the affidavit said.

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