An Altha man awoke in his bathtub last Wednesday, tied up and beaten severely, allegedly at the hands of his own brother.
James Darren Summerlin, 21, has been charged with aggravated battery and false imprisonment.
According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Dep. Nate Jordan and Lt. Jared Nichols responded to a noon call at a Bates Road home.
The victim told authorities he was hanging out with Summerlin and noticed his brother was smoking a “boat” of meth, a street name for a piece of folded up tinfoil in which meth is burned and fumes are inhaled. The man said his brother was smoking an unusually large amount of meth. After he smoked it, Summerlin allegedly punched his brother in the face so hard it knocked him unconscious. The man said he awoke in the bathtub with a phone charger binding his wrists. His brother then began punching him with his fist and stomping on him with his shoes, then placed a knife to his neck and allegedly threatened to cut his throat.
The man said his brother appeared to be hallucinating from the drugs and seemed extremely paranoid, stating, “Who is watching me? Why are they watching me? Why are you giving signals?”
The man managed to escape to a neighbor’s house to call 911. Summerlin fled on foot.
A CaCI K-9 team assisted, but it was soon discovered that Summerlin had taken his grandmother’s car and left the area. Dep. Scheetz located him on Smith Street in Altha. He was taken into custody without incident.
The victim was treated by EMS.
