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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

California man stabbed in eye with drumstick is struck by car hours after being released from hospital

A Petaluma, Calif., man who was stabbed in the eye with a drumstick was released from the hospital only to be struck by a car, leading him right back to a trauma center over the weekend, officials said.

William McCullough, 68, was hospitalized for a week after a transient reportedly attacked him in a bank parking lot on Nov. 24.

"Our suspect was on top of him and holding the drumstick in his eye, pushing down," said Lt. Tim Lyons, a spokesman for the Petaluma Police Department. "He had also stuffed a water bottle down his throat."

Police said they don't know of a motive for the attack and don't think the two men knew each other.

The suspect, Jessie Aaron Chamberlain, 32, was arrested on suspicion of mayhem and elder abuse, but Lyons said he will be charged with attempted murder.

After initial treatment in Petaluma, McCullough was transferred to Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, where he spent a week recovering before being released Friday.

That night, after returning to Petaluma, McCullough was trying to cross a busy street when he was struck by a vehicle shortly after 9 p.m., Lyons said.

He was wearing an eye patch when he tried to dash across the roadway; police aren't sure whether that contributed to the collision.

McCullough is now at a Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital trauma unit with a minor to moderate head injury and some small lacerations, Lyons said.

Police said McCullough is expected to survive his injuries.

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