By Michele Chadwick
WOODLAND, CA – There were two victim testimonies and one officer testimony in Yolo County Superior Court this week regarding an alleged unprovoked attack by Jared Ray Lampkin—the three witnesses provided testimony covering the attack and its aftermath.
Last May 23, two men were welding a fence when they were attacked. The fence borders the victim’s property and a small park. As they were welding the portion of the fence adjacent to the park, they said Lampkin approached them from the park side.
Standing on the fence, *David did not see the defendant approach him from behind. The other witness, *Jon, did not see the man approach either, because he had a welding mask on at the time. As Lampkin began to shout, *Jon removed the welding mask.
(NOTE: *Jon and *David are not their real names. Names changed for anonymity.)
Both *David and *Jon testified that Lampkin threw a bike at the victim’s back. *David alleged that Lampkin then picked up the bike and threw it again. *David claimed that Lampkin threw the bike at least four times and said that “he was going to kill him.”
*David claimed Lampkin then grabbed the piece of metal in the victim’s hands and pulled him off of the fence into the park. Both *David and *Jon testified that once *David fell, Lampkin hit him with the metal bar multiple times across the body. The first strike hit the back of his head.
The last thing that *David remembers, he said, is the sound of the metal bar striking him as he fell unconscious. *Jon testified that he feared *David was dead after the first strike.
While *David was unconscious, Lampkin allegedly kicked him several times all over his body, including his head. *David received seven stitches to his head, seven stitches to his hand, five stitches to his hip and four stitches to his toe. As a result of his injuries, *David missed two months of work.
As Lampkin was leaving, he threw the bar over the fence at *Jon. *Jon crouched and the bar missed him landing in a bucket in the victim’s backyard.
In her testimony, Officer Maria Flores corroborated that the bar was in the bucket in the victim’s backyard. *Jon phoned *David’s girlfriend and 911.
Both *Jon and *David testified that they were completely alone at the time of the attack. *David identified the defendant in the courtroom while *Jon could not.
During the attack, suspect Lampkin allegedly said, “I’m going to kill you” and that *David had disrespected his girlfriend. *David did not know what the defendant was referring to and had never seen him before.
Cross-examination implied that *David catcalled Lampkin’s girlfriend in the park and thus angered him into confronting *David.
*David was holding a saw and a metal bar at the time of the attack and claims he did not swing either at Lampkin.
During the hearing, there was a debate over *Jon’s testimony. *Jon repeatedly referred to the metal bar as a tube despite the bar being solid. Judge David Rosenberg clarified with *Jon that he called the evidence a tube rather than a misidentified piece of evidence.
*Jon’s interpreter clarified that this was just the word he chose to describe the weapon. The court accepted that the witness simply used a different word than “bar” rather than misidentified evidence.
Lampkin faces five charges, including four felonies and one misdemeanor. The charges include assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a means of force likely to cause bodily injury, threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor battery.
Judge Rosenberg set the bail at $100,000 and Lampkin was remanded to the county jail.
