Joseph Lee Birdwell
A man arrested for allegedly damaging an ATM after it would not give him money is now back in jail on aggravated assault charges.
Thirty-five-year old Joseph Birdwell of Lakeview is charged with aggravated assault on a family or household member, a felony, along with misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and disorderly conduct.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Lakeview Police Department, authorities received a call Wednesday to report the assault. A juvenile reported they had been at home when Birdwell allegedly showed up drunk and started beating on the bedroom door. The child says Birdwell was “cursing and insulting” while yelling. When the child opened the door, Birdwell allegedly grabbed the victim, pushed the child down and told the victim to get out of the home.
The child went to a relative’s home a few streets away to call police, with officers noting the victim had “red marks on the right jaw.”
When arriving at Birdwell’s residence, authorities located another victim, an adult female. The woman said she arrived at the residence to find Birdwell drunk and went to tell the juvenile to leave the home.
After discovering the child was gone, the adult victim was attacked, with Birdwell hitting her in the face and biting her twice on the arm. He also hit the woman in the ribs with his phone and allegedly choked the woman. The affidavit states the adult victim had documented injuries that are consistent with the alleged events.
While the Lakeview officer was on scene with the victims, Birdwell showed up at the location, saw law enforcement and fled. Lakeview authorities were able to stop Birdwell and place him under arrest. The report notes Birdwell was screaming, hollering and hitting the squad car’s door repeatedly.
Birdwell recently appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court after he allegedly hit an ATM with his fists and cellphone. He entered a not guilty plea to charges of criminal mischief and theft of property.
Security camera footage from April 2 is reported to show Birdwell inserting his debit card into the machine. The transaction was not completed and Birdwell began to pummel the ATM.
Less than an hour later, Birdwell was shown revisiting the scene where he began beating the ATM a second time.
The touch screen on the ATM was broken and the machine had to be taken out of service for five days.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Birdwell did slightly more than $1,700 in damage in his two attacks on the ATM.
The Lakeview police reported Birdwell was given an opportunity to make restitution to the bank, but he had not done so when the probable cause affidavit was written.
Birdwell remains jailed in the Baxter County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.
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