Charles City man charged with burglary assault while displaying hatchet

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City man has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree burglary for allegedly assaulting one person and intending to assault another, while displaying a hatchet.

Kelly Randall Caster, age 41, was charged with the Class B felony for allegedly entering a Charles City residence on April 27 and committing an assault on a person there, “causing bodily injury,” according to a document filed in Floyd County District Court.

Caster also had intent to commit assault on another person at the residence, the criminal complaint alleges.

“The defendant was displaying a hatchet at the time of the assault,” the document says.

Caster entered the not guilty plea last week.

He also had filed a motion to consolidate the burglary case with a separate charge, an aggravated misdemeanor charge for assault causing bodily injury that was allegedly part of the same event.

District Court Judge Chris Foy approved the motion to consolidate.

“The state alleges that both crimes involve the same victim, … and took place on or about April 27, 2021. The witnesses the state has identified in each case are identical, and it appears that there will be substantial overlap in the testimony the witnesses will give regarding each of these crimes,” Foy wrote.

“It is the opinion of the court that its time and energy, and that of defendant, his attorney, the witnesses, and prospective jurors will be most efficiently used by conducting a single trial on the pending charges against defendant,” he ruled.