FOUNTAINTOWN – A Fountaintown man is jail after he drank booze with a local teen, got drunk and punched the boy in the face.
Michael Fowle Jr., 31, Fountaintown, faces two criminal counts, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and battery.
Police were called to Fowle’s apartment earlier this month after the teen’s mother called 911 to report her son had been battered. The boy lives in the same apartment complex as Fowle, according to police.
When officers arrived on scene, they found the blood-covered teen sitting in his parents’ apartment. There were injuries to his face, and his hand was wrapped in a towel to stifle his bleeding knuckles, court documents state.
The boy told investigators he drank three beers and a shot of bourbon with Fowle while they were watching TV together in Fowle’s apartment. He and Fowle got into an argument — the teen didn’t say over what — and Fowle grabbed him by the neck, placed him in a headlock and began punching him in the face, the boy said, according to court documents.
The boy said after the scuffle with Fowle, he went outside and punched a window of the man’s apartment, breaking the glass and causing further injury to his hand, court documents state.
A breath test showed the boy had a blood-alcohol content of .06 percent, records show.
Police photographed the boy’s injuries, which included bruising to the left side of his face and the right side of his neck and a cut to his hand, records show. He also complained of jaw pain, officials said.
The boy was taken to Hancock Regional Hospital, treated for his injuries and later released.
Fowle denied the boy’s allegations when police questioned him.
Fowle said the boy had visited his home, but he denied giving the teen alcohol, telling officers the boy might have sneaked the booze while Fowle wasn’t looking, court documents state.
Police saw marks on Fowle’s knuckles consistent with having been in a fistfight, court documents state. Fowle said they were old and gave no explanation of how they’d occurred, court documents state.
Fowle also submitted to a breath test, court documents state. It showed he had a blood-alcohol content of .16 percent.
The case against Fowle was filed last week in Hancock County Superior Court 2.
Fowle faces one Level 6 felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one Class A misdemeanor of battery resulting in bodily injury, records show.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces and is being held in the Hancock County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.
Officers said they recommended to juvenile probation that the boy be charged with underage drinking, court documents state. All juvenile records are sealed.