A homeless man in Columbia with a criminal record in Arkansas and Kansas is jailed without bond in Boone County, charged with attacking a homeless woman with a cane near a creek.
Court documents say Monday’s early-evening incident happened in a creek and wooded area near Lakeview Avenue, near the Business Loop.
The Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement quotes the victim as saying she and 57-year-old Daren Hart had a verbal altercation before he punched her in the head and face multiple times, with open and closed fists. Court documents also allege that Hart the struck the woman in the face multiple times with his cane. The court documents say police found the victim with blood covering her head and face. There was so much blood that police couldn’t find the laceration. The court documents also say the victim’s speech was slurred after the assault.
Hart is charged with second degree assault and armed criminal action. Online court records do not indicate if Hart has an attorney yet.