CMU student arrested for attacking roommate with golf club and pocket knife
A Mount Pleasant Police Department car sits outside Walmart on Dec. 12.
A Central Michigan University student was arrested after attacking his roommate with his fists, a golf club and a pocket knife when the roommate forgot to buy him butane to smoke marijuana with.
Rochester sophomore Nathaniel Piccinini was arrested Sept. 30 and charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony. He was also charged with delivery or manufacturing of marijuana, a four-year felony and domestic violence, a 93-day misdemeanor, according to records from Isabella County Trial Court.
The incident occurred at an apartment building on South Bradley Street. Officers made contact with the injured roommate at the McLaren Central Michigan emergency room. The roommate said he returned home from the library to find Piccinini upset when he found out the roommate had not bought him a bottle of butane so he could smoke marijuana, according to the report from the Mount Pleasant Police Department.
Piccinini followed his roommate to his room where the argument continued. The victim told officers he threw a notebook on the floor during the argument, after which Piccinini lunged at him and started punching. The roommate fought back, putting Piccinini in a headlock and eventually forcing him out of the room.
Piccinini returned several minutes later with a golf club and stood in the doorway swinging it at the roommate. The roommate was able to push Piccinini out of the room again and shut the door. At this time the victim's other roommates had arrived and saw him holding his head where he had been punched, and accompanied him down to the kitchen to get ice.
The roommate and Piccinini had another confrontation in the kitchen when Piccinini threatened him with a 3.5-inch pocket knife. The roommate ran to an adjacent bathroom and closed the door. The other roommates told officers Piccinini then stabbed the bathroom door with the knife several times.
During the subsequent investigation of Piccinini's bedroom, police found more than 8.5 ounces of marijuana, collected in several jars and Ziploc bags, as well as a set of scales. Due to the quantity of drug paraphernalia, officers determined that Piccinini was intending to sell the marijuana.
Piccinini is scheduled for a preliminary examination on Oct. 18.
