Homer Simpson once referred to alcohol as “the cause of — and solution to — all of life’s problems” during a toast. And an incident involving a Tennessee father and his son strongly makes a case for the former.
Timothy Crabtree, 45, and his 21-year-old son Brandon were spending the night of Oct. 12 “having drinks” at the elder Crabtree’s home in Rogersville, located in Hawkins County in northeast Tennessee. What should have been an enjoyable father-son bonding experience took a violent turn when both men wanted the last beer in the house, the Kingsport Times-News reported — and resulted in the younger Crabtree being taken to the hospital with stab wounds to his leg.
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“Brandon stated the argument turned physical, and at that time he realized he had been stabbed,” Hawkins County Deputy Wesley Seals wrote in a police report. His brother transported him to the emergency room at Hawkins County Memorial Hospital, where his leg wounds were treated, according to the report. Besides the leg injuries, Brandon Crabtree sustained scratches to his chest and face.
During an interview with Seals and his fellow deputy Sam Wilhoit, Timothy Crabtree admitted he stabbed his son two times with a kitchen knife to defend himself, the Times-News reported.
“Timothy stated that they had been drinking and got into an altercation when Brandon got out of control, pushed him to the ground, and started assaulting him,” Wilhoit wrote in his police report. The father, who received scratches on his face during the struggle, stuck his son with the blade “to get him off of him.”
Both father and son were arrested following the fight and released the afternoon of Oct. 13. The elder Crabtree was charged with aggravated domestic assault, a felony offense, while his son was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault. They will appear in Hawkins County Sessions Court on Oct. 29, the Times-News reported.
Injurious scuffles over alcohol are common. Last month, a Tuscaloosa, Ala. woman fatally stabbed her boyfriend during an argument over booze. A less violent exchange occurred a few weeks later in Denver, when a man was kicked in the head when fighting over a bottle of alcohol, the Denver Post reported.
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