Man Charged after Allegedly Beating Relative with a Bat
HUMBOLDT, Tenn. – A Humboldt man is behind bars, after family members said he beat up his own cousin after a family fight, sending him to the hospital. WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News spoke with the victim, Brad Sikes, Thursday. He did not want to be on camera, because of his condition. He has a black eye, several scrapes, and half of his face is swollen. Humboldt police said Sikes’ cousin, Samuel Sikes, and another man are accused of beating him up somewhere in Gibson County.　 Brad said the duo reportedly hit him with a baseball bat, and punched him several times. “The sad part of it is, his own first cousin did this to him,” said family member Jessie Krebs. “That’s the sadness of this whole incident.” Investigators said after, the suspects allegedly threw Brad into a vehicle and took him to Humboldt, where the victim said he was able to escape. Rusty Flowers said he found Brad in his front yard, and thought the victim would not survive. “He was in the baddest condition I’ve seen,” Flowers said. “Blood everywhere. Bleeding from his nose, mouth, ears, couldn’t breathe very good.” “I was very upset with it, and didn’t know how or what to do about it, so I just called out to the Lord, and God did a miracle,” Krebs said. Brad told WBBJ the beating stemmed from a family dispute. “No matter what was said, he didn’t deserve the beating he got. You know, it could’ve been worked out in a civil way,” Krebs said. Police have charged Samuel Sikes with especially aggravated kidnapping, felony evading in a vehicle, driving on a revoked license and reckless endangerment. The incident is still under investigation.
