Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – A Jonesboro man faces a felony domestic battering charge after police said he struck a victim in the face with the claw end of a hammer during an argument.

According to an affidavit, on Jan. 17, Jonesboro police officers responded to a home in the 800 block of Creath Avenue for a physical fight.

Upon arrival, officers met with 58-year-old Rickie Lee Nash, two witnesses, and the victim. Officers were told by one of the witnesses that Nash had hit the victim with a hammer, who was seen by officers on a bed with her eye swollen shut and a cut underneath her eye.

“The laceration was consistent in size and shape with the claw end of a hammer, corroborating with the witness’s statement,” the affidavit stated.

The victim told officers that an argument occurred between her and Nash, during which Nash hit her once in the face with the claw end of a hammer. In addition to seeing the cut on the victim’s face, the officers also found visible pooling of blood beneath the skin in the area where the victim was struck. Nash was arrested as a result.

The affidavit said that after Nash was arrested, officers searched him and found a glass pipe used for smoking meth.

Nash appeared before District Judge David Boling on Jan. 20, who found probable cause to charge him with first-degree domestic battering (serious physical injury), a class B felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor.

Nash is being held in the Craighead County Detention Center on a $50,000 cash/surety bond, awaiting his next scheduled court appearance on Feb. 27.