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2 men arrested, charged in assaults in Butler

Butler City Police charged two men on Friday, Sept. 20, for allegedly assaulting two individuals and attempting to rob one.

According to a police affidavit, Brandon M. Caruso, 21, of Evans City, and Zhamare L. Wyche, 20, of Butler, on Thursday, Sept. 19, assaulted a 60-year-old man at about 8:30 p.m. on West Jefferson Street.

The man told police one of the men struck him in the back of the head with a hard object, and the two then began to repeatedly kick him in the ribs and face. When police arrived on scene, the man — who police report is partially deaf and has other impairments — had blood on his shirt from his nose.

While they were responding to the West Jefferson Street call, police received a call to respond to another call on West Birch Street.

In the second incident, a man told police he walked outside his apartment on West Cunningham Street to find Caruso and Wyche close to his vehicle. The man told the two to get away from his vehicle, after which they threatened him and he went back into his apartment. When he came back out, both were gone.

In a third incident, the two are accused of punching a man in the face, throwing him to the ground, and attempting to steal his wallet. According to the affidavit, the man was able to hang on to his wallet before the two ran off.

The three men gave police similar descriptions of their alleged perpetrators, and police were able to tie all three incidents together and pinpointed Wyche as a main suspect due to “an officer’s prior interactions” with Wyche that morning.

According to an affidavit, police tracked both Wyche and Caruso to an apartment the two were known to frequent on West Jefferson Street and placed them under arrest.

Although Wyche initially told police he was innocent, both he and Caruso admitted to being present and involved in the reported incidents, according to police reports.

Bail for both was set at $25,000 by District Judge William Fullerton. They were arraigned Friday, Sept. 20, on charges of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy by District Judge Kevin O’Donnell.

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