A Bloomfield man is accused of breaking the door and entering a woman’s apartment in Linton then getting into a fight with an upstairs neighbor who told him he should leave.

Austin Joe Wilkerson, 23, was arrested by Officer Debbie McDonald of the Linton Police Department and booked in to the Greene County Jail around 3 a.m. on Sunday, July 1.

His bond was set at $5,500 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $550 cash, was released later the same day and given a date to appear in court.

During Wilkerson’s initial hearing on Thursday, he was charged with:

• Residential entry – breaking and entering a dwelling, a Level 6 felony,
• Battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor, and
• Criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor

Officer McDonald was dispatched to Independence Place Apartments in Linton for a fight in progress around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 1.

When she arrived, a woman explained she shared a child with Wilkerson and he had called earlier and asked to come over to talk. She said no. Then he showed up and was knocking on her door. She said she looked out through the peep hole and told him to leave several times. Instead of leaving, he sat down on a chair on her porch.

The woman’s sister said she also told Wilkerson to leave then as she dialed 911, she showed him the phone through the window. Wilkerson allegedly then punched the window and broke the door.

Wilkerson allegedly did make it inside the apartment a few steps, then left and turned his attention to a man from an upstairs apartment.

McDonald said the neighbor from upstairs told her he heard a boom and heard people screaming, went outside and heard a woman telling Wilkerson to leave. He said he went downstairs and told Wilkerson, “Sir, she asked you nicely to leave, just leave.”

The neighbor said Wilkerson then took his shirt off, made a comment and started hitting him. The two went to the ground then ended up on the hood of a vehicle. McDonald reported the man had red marks on his arms, legs and head.

Officer McDonald said when she talked to Wilkerson, he said he had called the woman and she told him not to come over, but he did anyway, and that she had shut the door in his face.

McDonald reported the door frame was cracked and the inside molding was completely broken in half.

Wilkerson was taken into custody and transported to the Greene County Jail.