ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Rochester man was taken before a judge on a charge of whipping a machete across another man’s skull in a fight. Bail was set at $250,00 for Jacob Bale, age24. The criminal complaint was from an October 12 incident an apartment in the 350 block of Elton Hills Drive Northwest. Police found the victim with a blood-soaked bath towel wrapped around his head. Police reconstructed what happened this way:
> It was the victim’s 18th birthday celebration.
> An argument erupted over jewelry missing from the victim’s grandmother.
> Bale grabbed a machete and pressed it hard into the victim’s chest.
> The victim grabbed the blade and forced Bale off.
> Bale swung the blade down over the victim’s head and cut the left side of his head.
Bale was charged with assault and terroristic threats.
Bale. Assault charges leveled against him in two cases involving blades.
Earlier incident
Bale already was held on $250,000 bail in a 2016 case. He threatened the father of a missing Stewartville girl with a knife, the criminal complaint alleged. The father had seen his daughter and Bale walking together near Northern Hills Drive and North Broadway. Although not 18 at the time, Bale was certified for prosecution as an adult.