Matthew Sayger (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
An Indiana man is accused of a violent attack on his mother’s fiance at a residence north of Mountain Home. When authorities confronted 30-year-old Matthew Richard Sayger of Clear Lake Monday evening, he reportedly refused their commands, continued to drink whiskey and brandished a golf club.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Baxter County deputies responded to the residence on Oak Valley Lane to a male fighting with the caller’s fiance. The fiance reportedly had injuries to both eyes and blood and swelling on his entire face. A Baxter Regional Medical Center ambulance was later dispatched, and the victim was transported to the hospital and later transferred to another facility in Little Rock for specialized treatment.
As deputies drove down Oak Valley Lane, a vehicle was traveling the opposite direction at a high rate of speed. Both vehicles stopped in the road, and a man, identified as Sayger, exited his vehicle with a bottle of whiskey. He allegedly retrieved the golf club as deputies drew their weapons and said either he was going to assault them, or they would have to kill him. As one of the deputies retrieved his taser, Sayger reportedly grabbed a long-sleeve shirt and a jacket to lessen the effect.
After continuing to refuse commands, Sayger reportedly continued to drink and said he wanted the deputies to put down their weapons. One deputy said that wasn’t going to happen until he dropped the golf club and walked toward them. Sayger reportedly threw the club into the woods and was placed under arrest without further incident.
Sayger’s mother spoke with a deputy at the hospital and claimed she and her fiance were having dinner with her son when he threatened to assault her. The fiance reportedly stood up to defend her, and Sayger started attacking him while his four-year-old daughter was observing. The mother says she took her granddaughter to another room, and when she returned, her son was on top of her fiance, striking his face with both fists.
Injuries to the victim include a broken nose, hemorrhage behind and inside his eye and a damaged optical nerve. He reportedly has no vision in the damaged eye.
Sayger is charged with a felony count of first-degree battery, two felony counts of aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer, a felony count of first-degree terroristic threatening and misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault on a family or household member, third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, refusal to submit to arrest, driving while intoxicated, disorderly conduct, refusal to submit to a chemical test and open alcohol container in a vehicle. He is in the Baxter County Detention Center on a bond of $75,000 and is scheduled to appear in circuit court later this month.
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