Man in jail after attack with machete

Chad Russell McKee, 34, of West Plains, is currently incarcerated at the Ozark County Jail, held without bond in connection with a case in which he reportedly attacked a man with a machete in Bakersfield last week after his girlfriend broke up with him for another man. 

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman, at 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department received a call from the Ozarks Health emergency room security office with a report that an apparent assault by machete had transpired in Ozark County about 45 minutes prior to the patient’s arrival via personal vehicle. The security officer said that the victim was going to be transported shortly to Cox Hospital in Springfield by medical helicopter due to the severity of his condition.

The dispatcher relayed the information to Sherman and fellow deputy Jeff Lane, and the two officers left, headed toward the hospital to interview the victim before he was airlifted. 

A call from the ER reporting a machete assault

“Upon arrival in the emergency room, initial observations of [the victim] were him in Croc sandals, covered in blood, with a small laceration on [his] left shoulder with minor lacerations of [his] fingers as well. Closer inspection with gauze removed showed a deep laceration with muscle tissue sliced on [his] left forearm area with slight bone exposed,” the probable cause statement says. 

The victim and his girlfriend, who was present at the hospital and at the incident before, said she had been at a residence with McKee when he began “slamming around his car and swung a machete at [the victim] and struck him and returned to his vehicle,” the report says.

The victim fires back

After being sliced with the machete, the victim said he went to his truck, retrieved a pistol from the glove box and shot at McKee who was still sitting in his vehicle. McKee left the residence. The victim said the firearm was still at the residence and was not with him at the hospital. He described the vehicle McKee was in as a black Honda with white tires and wheels and with bad registration (tags) on the vehicle. 

Sherman asked the victim if he believed he struck McKee’s vehicle with a bullet when he fired the gun at it, and he said he did not think he did, as he wasn’t trying to hit him specifically. The victim said he wasn’t sure what McKee was “coming at him with,” but he put his arm up to protect himself and the weapon sliced into his arm. The victim said he did want the prosecutor to press charges against McKee for the incident.

The report says that a search of the name Chad McKee in the sheriff’s department database resulted in a description of a white male with his birthdate. The OCSD dispatch office sent a photograph of McKee to Sherman, and the officer asked the victim if the man pictured was the assailant. The victim said that was who had assaulted him. 

An interview back at the scene of the crime

The officers then conducted an interview with a juvenile witness who was at the scene when the incident occurred. That witness said she saw McKee leaving the house in a black Honda when she started to record and capture the incident. 

The officers then went to the scene of the crime and met with the victim’s girlfriend and her daughter, the two witnesses to the crime, who were back home then.

“Initial observations as we were walking to meet and talk with [the witnesses] were blood marks and drops throughout the driveway and some on a truck that was parked behind a red vehicle,” the report says. “Witness’s daughter, the juvenile witness, was present as well during the time of the interview as she left the ER to return home. Chad and the victim were best friends, and she “messed with Chad” a few times, as she is in a primary relationship with victim. When they arrived back at her house [with the victim], Chad was already parked at her house parked by the Chrysler. Chad gets out of the car and has a machete already in his hands. Chad came around the vehicle and struck victim with the machete in the arm. While victim was walking to the truck, she caught up because she thought he was going to pass out and knew [the victim] was going for his firearm in the truck.”

The girlfriend said she had McKee over to her house on Sept. 15 one last time to set the tone for their relationship to be done, as she and the victim in this case were going to try and reconcile their relationship. That evening, while at her house in the living room, she said McKee was sharpening a black 16- to 18-inch blade and a black bladed machete with a knife sharpener. She said when talking about ending their relationship due to her reconnection with the victim, McKee told her that he would “cut [the victim’s] head off.” 

Then she said on Sept. 16, she spent the day with the victim at the victim’s residence and told him what McKee had said, as she said she thought it was odd behavior from McKee. 

On the McKee property

The officers then went to a log cabin located on the side of the McKee property off H Highway near County Road 349. A black Honda Civic matching the description of the vehicle the victim and witnesses gave was parked there. It did have bad registration (license plates). 

“I observed through the windows only with my flashlight the interior of the black Honda, attempting to see a machete and/or signs of blood, etc. within the vehicle as it pertains to the incident. We were not able to view signs of a knife/machete type of object through the window of the precursory visual of the vehicle,” the report says. “The resident… came outside and introduced himself to us and we let him know why we were present and had a desire to speak with Chad McKee. He said Chad was inside and invited us beyond his wooded door fence to speak with him [Chad].”

When the officers asked McKee about his whereabouts, he reportedly said that he had been working all day and evening with his family on the farm. He also reportedly told the officers that he was no longer in a relationship with the woman involved. He said both the woman and the victim were crazy and that he no longer wanted anything to do with them. He said the last time he saw the woman in person was approximately three days before. The family member who had invited the officers in then interjected and “was insistent that [McKee] was with him working all day and didn’t leave to go anywhere,” the report says. 

Follow up interview 

In a follow up interview with the girlfriend, she told officers that she was at the victim’s residence in West Plains and returned him in the truck. She said she dropped McKee off at a tire shop on Highway 101 at around 7 a.m. before going to the victim’s house on Monday morning. She said McKee was parked facing toward Highway 142 (near the rear toward the house) and headlights were toward the driveway with them coming toward him. According to the report, she said McKee immediately started to approach their truck when the victim exited. She said the knife sharpener was McKee’s and not hers, and that she doesn’t own a knife sharpener. She then made the remark that he left with the machete as well after the incident. 

Finding the machete - and more

A search warrant was granted and assisted in locating the machete at the McKee residence on Sept. 17, along with methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and firearms. 

McKee is charged with first-degree assault (serious injury), armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon (exhibiting), possession of methamphetamine, all felony charges. 

He was arrested Sept. 19 and was arraigned by Associate Judge Raymond Gross. A bond reduction hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30.