Man charged with beating disabled relative

Robert Sunchild, accused of beating a disabled older relative and resisting arrest, will make his plea Jan. 4.

According to District Court documents, a woman called Havre Police Department Dec. 1. crying and speaking incoherently. Three officers were dispatched to the scene.

According to police accounts, the first officer on the scene found the woman who called in the complaint screaming and sobbing. The officer notified the officers, who were still on their way, that an assault was in progress.

The officer then went into the living room and found Robert Sunchild punching an older male relative, who uses a wheelchair. Sunchild was holding him down with his knees on the man's chest and stomach. The officer yelled at Robert Sunchild to get off and stop punching the man on the ground.Sunchild didn't listen. The officer then pulled the alleged assailant off the victim.

The officer told Sunchild to stay on the ground, but he refused to comply. Sunchild stood up, faced the officer and puffed out his chest. The officer again told Sunchild to get on the ground, unholstering his Taser in the meantime. Sunchild started yelling at the officer and took a step forward.

The officer discharged his Taser and both darts hit their target. But, the report says, “Robert (Sunchild) displayed minimal reaction to the Taser.”

The officer continued to yell, threatening to apply the Taser to him.

By this time, according to the report, another officer arrived at the home and the two brought the raging Sunchild down.

The report said that the complainant old officers that Sunchild came over shirtless and, as she believed, drunk. She knew alcohol made her brother violent and went in the other room to call the police. She heard the older relative yelling for help soon afterward.

The alleged victim told officers he tried to get away from Sunchild, but the attacker followed him into the kitchen. According to the victim, once in the kitchen, Sunchild pulled him out of his wheelchair and started kicking him in the mouth, ribs, and legs. He said he didn't know why Sunchild beat him.

Sunchild was noncompliant to the end. He had to be forced in the patrol vehicle, the report said.

Sunchild is charged with one felony count of partner or family member assault, third or subsequent, and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

He is being held in Hill County Detention Center.