A man accused of repeatedly striking someone in the head with a metal rod in Lewis County in August 2018 was arrested Saturday on a $50,000 warrant.
Bail was increased Monday to $100,000.
Joshua Allen Chum, 29, was charged Nov. 8, 2018, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of first-degree assault.
A $50,000 arrest warrant was issued that same day, but Chum avoided arrest on that warrant for over six years before he was arrested by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Lewis County Jail at approximately 10:35 p.m. on April 19, according to jail and court records.
“Mr. Chum had no idea that there was an active warrant,” Tiller said, adding that Chum, who no longer lives in Lewis County, has been on Department of Corrections supervision for an unrelated 2018 case since the warrant was filed and was never informed of the Lewis County case.
Noting that his sentence in the 2018 case was for 12 months of DOC supervision, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Yoely Yeager said, “My guess would be that he absconded for six years.”
Chum is accused of striking a man three to four times in the head during a verbal argument in a garage in the 600 block of Pearl Street on Aug. 7, 2018, according to court documents. Chum is also accused of punching the victim in the face several times and of choking him out before the victim “was able to convince Chum to stop the assault,” according to court documents.
A witness reported seeing Chum and the victim “grappling” with each other, seeing Chum punch the victim several times, then seeing “both Chum and (the victim) notice the pipe and both trying to reach for it,” according to court documents.
The witness reported that Chum hit the victim with the pipe once before the victim “got the handle of the pipe and hit Chum with it, but that Chum got the pipe back and raised it to hit (the victim) again but then stopped and left the garage,” according to court documents.
Law enforcement personnel reported finding the victim “sitting on a curb, bleeding, almost unconscious and disoriented,” according to court documents.
Due to the age of the case and the severity of the allegations, Yeager ruled Monday to raise Chum’s bail to $100,000.
“I don’t have any confidence that Mr. Chum would appear in court if released on standard conditions,” Yeager said Monday. “…The concern here is not only for risk to safety given the seriousness of the allegation but he also presents a significant flight risk.”
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 24.
