A Mississippi man has posted bail after turning himself in to Bay St. Louis police for allegedly biting off the nose of another man following a heated argument related to a game of golf.
According to Police Chief Toby Schwartz, the suspect, 51-year-old Mark Curtis Wells, was booked into Hancock County jail on Wednesday morning local time before paying 10% of a $50,000 bail bond to secure his release from custody.
Schwartz said that officers were called to the Hollywood Casino on Monday night after receiving reports that there had been a serious assault on the property’s parking lot.
Upon arrival, police encountered a man who had suffered significant facial injuries to the point that his nose had been entirely bitten off from his face.
Officers were unable to locate the severed appendage on the scene, and the victim was transported to a local hospital.
Police determined in their subsequent investigation that Wells and the victim had become engaged in a heated argument earlier in the day at the Bridges Golf Course which had extended into the evening and eventually into the violent scene at the parking lot.
Wells then allegedly fled the scene before reporting to police on Wednesday.
He has reportedly been charged with mayhem, which local law dictates could lead to a term of seven years in prison.
Mississippi law dictates felony mayhem as a premeditated crime with intent to kill, and in which the suspect mutilates or destroys a victim's body part.