Photo: Craighead County Sheriff’s Office
An Arkansas man is facing a felony charge after allegedly hurling a racial slur at a Black man and striking him in the head with a heavy metal chain.
Tanner Chase Thomas Bobbitt, 22, was arrested in Jonesboro on October 17 on charges of second-degree battery following what authorities described as a violent confrontation.
According to court documents obtained by KAIT, the victim told police he was riding his bike to a friend’s house when Bobbitt suddenly yelled the N-word at him and threatened him.
“Victim states that he confronted Bobbitt about what he had said, and Bobbitt produced a chain from his pocket and struck him in the head with it,” the police affidavit said. “Officers noted a laceration to the head, which was actively bleeding.”
When questioned by officers, Bobbitt reportedly admitted to calling the man the racial slur and hitting him with the chain but claimed he acted in self-defense after being provoked. Police later recovered a 1.5-foot-long metal log chain from Bobbitt's jacket pocket.
Bobbitt was taken into custody at the Craighead County Detention Center, where his bail was set at $20,000.
Court records show Bobbitt has a prior history of violence. Last year, Bobbitt was charged with felony battery after allegedly stabbing a homeless man in the back with a screwdriver. Bobbitt claimed that he was attacked first with a machete. However, investigators later found the marks on his heels were consistent with blisters from footwear rather than a machete wound.
Bobbitt's latest alleged victim is being treated for a bleeding head injury.
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