Bush legacy: Marine charged with assaulting parents
James A. Chamblee
Marine charged with assaulting parents
By Matt Sutkoski
Free Press Staff Writer
A U.S. Marine pleaded not guilty to assault charges Monday after prosecutors
said he beat his parents over the weekend in Colchester.
Charles W. Blount, 31, was released on conditions, including that he not
make contact with his family and that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
He is charged with one count of aggravated assault and one charge of simple
assault. Court papers indicate Blount has no prior criminal record in
Vermont.
When Colchester police arrived at the Blount home after a 911 call just
before midnight Friday, they saw through a window that Blount was assaulting
his bloodied mother, according to court papers. Police kicked in the door
and subdued Blount after a brief struggle.
The inside of the house
was strewn with broken furniture and blood was spattered on the walls of the
kitchen, hallway and living room, police said, according to court papers.
Blount's father, Edmon Blount, was found bloodied and nearly unconscious on
a couch, the court papers indicated.
The court papers gave no indication of a motive for the alleged assault. The
mother, Margaret Blount, told police that she, her husband and son visited
and drank martinis before Margaret Blount went to bed. She was awakened by
the sound of her husband and son arguing. Soon, Margaret Blount told police,
Charles Blount was hitting her husband, and then struck her, according to
the court papers.
Charles Blount's sister, Ciara Blount, 17, was in an upstairs bedroom when
she heard the fight. She called a sister in Virginia, who urged her to stay
in the bedroom. Ciara Blount was just about to call 911 when police burst
into the house. The court papers did not indicate who called 911.
As Charles Blount was being led away, he resisted getting into the cruiser,
and once inside the car, began kicking the passenger side window of the
cruiser, court papers allege. Police said Blount's blood alcohol content was
0.225. A motorist can be arrested for drunken driving with a blood alcohol
content of 0.08.
The Blount parents were treated at Fletcher Allen Health Care and released.
Court records show Blount has been a Marine for 13 years. Prosecutor Carolyn
Hanson said until recently, Blount had been posted at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The U.S. military is holding detainees from Afghanistan and elsewhere at
Guantanamo.
Blount's attorney, James Murdoch, declined comment Monday.