PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Somerset man faces an attempted murder charge after officials said he intentionally drove his truck into two people during a family dispute on West Highway 80 in Pulaski County. In addition, another man faces assault and criminal mischief charges in connection to the altercation.
An arrest citation filed by the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department detailed that 38-year-old Steven Stout was arrested early Monday morning following the incident.
Deputies responded to reports of a domestic dispute in progress in the 4400 block of West Highway 80. While en route, officers were told that someone had been run over and that a suspect had allegedly fled the scene in a black truck.
According to the arrest citation, the confrontation stemmed from an earlier verbal altercation. The situation reportedly escalated when a man called his mother, identified in the citation as the wife of Steven, for help after running out of gas at the West Highway 80 location.
Steven and his wife reportedly arrived at the scene with gasoline to assist her son. Shortly after, a second truck carrying Billy Dugger and his wife arrived, and two separate physical altercations broke out.
Court documents stated that Steven Stout said he attempted to break up both fights. During the altercation, he allegedly observed Billy Dugger hit his wife with a baseball bat and saw the son's girlfriend allegedly walking toward her vehicle.
"Steven stated he believed [the girlfriend] to be attempting to get a firearm so he entered his truck and drove his truck into" the girlfriend and Billy, the citation read.
After the incident, Steven and his wife allegedly fled the scene but returned to pick up her son, arriving just as deputies were responding to the location.
A lieutenant located the fleeing black Ford F-150 driving at high speed with flashers on toward Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. At the hospital, officers found Billy Dugger, along with the girlfriend, suffering multiple serious injuries.
Billy's wife told police that Steven Stout had run over her husband and daughter, and that as Steven attempted to leave the scene, he hit Billy's truck, knocking Billy to the ground and pinning her daughter between the vehicles, according to the citation.
Deputies also located Steven's wife at the original scene, who had been struck in the head with a baseball bat and required medical attention.
Steven Stout was arrested early Sunday and he was then taken to the Pulaski County Detention Center.
Stout is charged with attempted murder. Meanwhile, Billy Dugger has been charged with second-degree assault and second-degree criminal mischief.
