BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) —Â A man who previously spent time behind bars for vandalizing trees with a machete is going back to prison for attacking his girlfriend and her dog with a machete.
On Feb. 4, the Butte County District Attorney announced that 33-year-old Charles Dean Hipes Jr. was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to four years in state prison.
KRCR reports Hipes was also convicted of felony vandalism in June 2024 for damaging seven trees at a park with a machete. He was sentenced to a year in jail and a year of mandatory supervision. According to the DA’s office, there was no apparent motive for the vandalism.
According to KRCR, Hipes violated probation several times and served short jail terms before his probation was revoked.
On April 3, 2025, he swung a machete at his girlfriend’s dog, claiming it was possessed. When his girlfriend intervened, she was struck. She required staples on her head and stitches on her finger. Her dog reportedly made a full recovery after veterinary treatment.
At the time of the assault, KRCR reported Hipes was booked into jail and charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty, and infliction of corporal injury.
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