Injured man charged with domestic abuse

A man was sent to the hospital Sunday night with an arm injury, but it is he who will be charged with two separate counts - domestic abuse and firearms possession by a convicted felon.

According to the court affidavit, Randall Ray McFarland, 47, of Comanche, was involved in an altercation on N. 2800 Rd (42nd Street) west of Comanche that led to him being taken by medical helicopter to the Wichita Falls Trauma Center. McFarland had received a large six-inch gash on his arm that first responders believed was too severe for local hospitals to handle.

He was brought to Comanche by ambulance where he was medical flighted from the Comanche High School football field.
The affidavit stated that the incident started when a woman, who had been living with McFarland, was moving out. She was accompanied by her daughter to go to the residence to get the woman’s belongings.

The reporting party, a relative of the woman and daughter, stated that McFarland allegedly was choking the daughter and that McFarland was naked and had been stabbed in the altercation.

The daughter told responding Stephens County Sheriff deputies that shortly after arriving she heard the woman and McFarland arguing inside the home and went to investigate. The daughter stated that McFarland charged at her, so the daughter grabbed a knife that was on the counter. McFarland allegedly knocked her backwards, but she could not be positive the knife she was holding was what had cut his forearm.

The mother stated that she was pleading the fifth and was not going to press any charges. She told officers she knew McFarland was going to jail, but what he needed was drug rehabilitation.

When asked about the knife that cut McFarland, the woman said it was in the bedroom and the knife that her daughter grabbed was not the one that cut him.

Deputies were unable to find the knife in the bedroom. They found the knife that the daughter had grabbed during the alleged struggle.

McFarland, who was dressed when deputies arrived, denied that a knife was involved and that the whole incident was an accident. He said he and the woman had begun to argue when she came home from work. He stated the daughter came in the home while he was sleeping and kicked him in the groin and he had tried to push her out of the home.

While no second knife was found in the bedroom, a loaded semi-automatic rifle was found underneath the bed. Since McFarland has a prior felony conviction, the gun was seized at the time.

A Comanche police officer was initially on the scene due to the long distance away of the closest deputies to the location. Comanche police chief Bill Straily said his department also helped land the helicopter that took McFarland to the trauma center.