Two people were recently arrested and charged with felonies after police say they battered people with weapons during separate incidents in East Idaho this month.
Jacob Wesley Mack, 22, of Woods Cross, Utah, has been charged with felony aggravated battery and felony attempted strangulation following an incident that began to unfold in Lava Hot Springs around 1:50 a.m. Saturday.
Bannock County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a motel on the 300 block of Main Street in Lava Hot Springs for a welfare check on a woman after she called her mother screaming and then immediately hung up, according to a police report the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.
Upon arrival, police located two women outside of the motel crying. One of the girls identified themselves as a friend of the girl who called her mother crying. The friend said the alleged victim’s ex-boyfriend, later identified as Mack, told the girls that he was going to come to Lava Hot Springs and kill all of them and that he was armed with a 9mm pistol, police said.
Police searched the area for the victim and Mack’s truck but were eventually advised by dispatch that both Mack and the victim were at the Caribou Medical Center in Soda Springs.
At the hospital, the victim told police that she and Mack were in a verbal and physical argument but would not elaborate further, police said. Officers observed she had multiple marks and cuts from a knife on her neck, according to police.
Mack was also at the hospital with a stab wound to his arm. Mack told police that he and the victim were arguing in his truck and that he had a closed knife on his lap during the argument, police said. Sometime during the argument, the knife opened up and Mack grabbed it. While arguing, Mack’s dog from the backseat became agitated and tried to get in the front seat area and ultimately caused Mack to stab himself in the arm.
Mack denied ever remembering attempting to strangle the woman but admitted that the altercation occurred so fast that he couldn’t remember exactly how everything went down.
Mack was then charged, arrested and booked into the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.
Mack appeared in front of 6th District Judge Steven Thomsen for an arraignment hearing Monday, during which his bond was set at $25,000.
Prosecutors will attempt to prove there is enough evidence against Mack to elevate the case from the magistrate to district court level for trial during a preliminary hearing on Oct. 3.
If convicted of both felony charges filed against him, Mack faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Lauren Samantha Scott, 28, of Pocatello, has been charged with felony aggravated battery after police say she attacked a woman with several wooden boards.
The incident occurred on Sept. 11 when Pocatello police were dispatched to a home on Industrial Lane for the report of a physical disturbance, according to a police report the Journal recently obtained.
Upon arrival, police observed a woman holding a towel to her head that was saturated in blood, police said.
The woman told police that she and Scott got into a verbal argument that turned physical and resulted in Scott attacking her with several wooden boards and then destroying items throughout the home, police said.
Paramedics responded to the home and provided first aid to the woman but she was not hospitalized, police said.
The woman told police she was unsure how many times she was struck with the board but that she had just had the “(expletive) kicked out of me,” police said, adding that the woman said she wanted to press charges for the attack but not for the destruction of the property in her home.
Police were unable to immediately locate Scott, police records show. An arrest warrant charging her with felony aggravated battery was filed against her and she was ultimately arrested in Arco on Wednesday.
Scott appeared in front of 6th District Judge Aaron Thompson during an arraignment hearing Thursday, during which her bond was set at $15,000.
She is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 12.
If convicted of the felony aggravated battery charge, Scott faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. Additionally, prosecutors intend to seek an enhancement penalty against Scott for using a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony crime, which could extend any prison sentence levied against her by up to 15 years.