By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com
Police arrested two men Friday after they allegedly assaulted a Cleburne woman and beat her husband with a chain. One of the men arrested also allegedly assaulted a Cleburne police officer. Police arrested a woman who accompanied the men to the scene as well for outstanding warrants.
Police responded to the 1100 block of Baird Street on a call of a fight in progress that appeared to be escalating about 5 p.m.
Officer Robert Thompson arrived on scene first to find three people fighting in a front yard. Thompson attempted to break the fight up but was shoved by a man later identified as Justin Ray Klosky, 21, of Cleburne, according to reports. Thompson fell, injuring his ribs and right hand, but he managed to gain control of Klosky after a brief fight, according to reports. At that point, Klosky was handcuffed by other officers who had arrived at the scene.
Thompson suffered no serious injury and did not require medical treatment, said Cleburne police Sgt. Amy Knoll.
The other two men ceased fighting once they recognized Thompson as a uniformed police officer, according to reports, but Klosky fought Thompson knowing he was a police officer in performance of his duties.
After handcuffing Klosky, officers ordered the other four people present to lie on the ground. Kay Lynn Veselka, 38, of Cleburne began yelling at the top of her lungs at that point and refused to lie on the ground until police threatened to use a Taser on her, according to reports. Police arrested Veselka after a computer check revealed two outstanding Alvarado warrants in her name.
The female homeowner told police she and her husband evicted Klosky from a rental property they own, and he was moving out that day. Klosky came to the couple’s house in an agitated state and demanded to borrow a phone, the woman said. Klosky yelled at her husband about being evicted but finally left, the woman said.
A short time later another man, Jason Dewayne Long, 23, of Cleburne, came to the couple’s front door, began yelling, ripped the screen door, entered the house and began fighting with the male homeowner, the woman said.
The fight moved out the front yard, where the man was able to hold Long down until Klosky reappeared and began kicking the man, his wife said. Long next began hitting the man with a chain, the woman said. Klosky threw her against a car when she tried to help her husband, she said, adding that Klosky also hit her husband with the chain. The fight continued until police arrived.
Rescue workers noted bruises to the man’s torso and a laceration to the back of his head. Police retrieved a chain, several links of which were blood splattered, lying nearby.
Police charged Klosky with assault of a police officer, aggravated assault of the homeowners and burglary of a habitation. He remains jailed at the Johnson County Corrections Center in Cleburne on a $50,000 bond. Long was charged with aggravated assault, burglary of a habitation and two Cleburne warrants. Long remains jailed on bonds totaling $50,600. Veselka has been released.
Contacted Monday, the woman said she and her husband remain sore and bruised but in basically good shape. A hospital treated and released her husband, she said.
