Published: April 04, 2008 12:00 am      

Police say teen beaten with bat

ONEONTA _ A 17-year-old Milford boy allegedly used an aluminum baseball bat in an assault that put a 15-year-old Oneonta boy into the hospital with facial fractures earlier this week.

Charles A. Strong was charged with first-degree assault for striking the boy in the face while a group of boys was hanging out inside a garage at a Main Street residence Tuesday night.

Strong was arrested later that night and arraigned in Oneonta City Court before Judge Walter Terry on Wednesday.

He was sent to Otsego County jail on $7,500 bail or $15,000 bond.

Strong is to appear Monday for further proceedings, court officials said.

In an interview transcript filed with arraignment documents, Strong admitted to police he struck the boy, but said he was aiming for his side and was only trying to "scare" him.

Strong said in the transcript he hit the boy because the 15-year-old had "beaten up" one of his friends.

Police also said the attack appeared to be retaliation for the boy getting into a fight with one of Strong's friends earlier in the day.

The injured boy was helped to the nearby Quickway by friends, where he called his mother, who then took him to A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital, according to a statement from the boy on file with the court.

The 15-year-old, whose name was not released by police, was still in the hospital during the day Thursday, police said. He was later listed at the hospital as having been treated and released.

The investigation into the incident is continuing, police said.

Strong was at the jail Thursday pending further court action, jail officials said.