Man gets 2 years in bat beating

By Britt Combs | The McDowell News

Published: November 23, 2009

A baseball bat beating has landed a Marion man in prison for at least two years.
Shane Riddle, 20, of Carolina Avenue recently pleaded no contest in McDowell County Superior Court to assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Judge Bradley B. Letts sentenced Riddle to 23 to 37 months in prison and ordered that he pay restitution of $375 to the victim in the case and $19,714.88 to Memorial Mission Hospital.
On Saturday, Jan. 24, Lt. B.A. Rumfelt of the McDowell County Sheriff's Office was on patrol on N.C. 226 in Dysartsville, when he passed a store and saw a man swinging a bat. The lieutenant also noticed several people trying to flag him down.
When he got closer, he spotted the victim, 40-year-old Wayne Edward Cupp of Dairy Road in Nebo, lying on the ground bleeding, according to authorities.
Rumfelt found the weapon on the back of Riddle's truck.
Deputies said there was an ongoing dispute between the two men over Riddle's ex-girlfriend and his daughter living with Cupp.