Left inset: Papa Steven Sagapolutele. Right inset: Kaleb Cutler (Bingham County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Entrance to the Eastern Idaho State Fair (KPVI/YouTube).
What began as a family’s attempt to leave the Eastern Idaho State Fair allegedly turned violent when a father and his juvenile son were attacked during a confrontation over people blocking traffic, authorities say.
Papa Steven Sagapolutele, 21, and Kaleb Cutler, 22, have been charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated battery, following the Labor Day weekend incident involving the father and son, according to court documents.
Bingham County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Eastern Idaho State Fairground in Blackfoot at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday after receiving a report of an active fight. When officers arrived, they found both victims suffering from injuries and “bleeding significantly,” according to the allegations.
Arrest affidavits obtained by Law&Crime state that the father had been leaving the fairgrounds with his family when they came upon a group standing or walking in the roadway.
According to the affidavits, the father said he and his family were trying to exit the fair when they encountered several people “walking in the roadway and disrupting vehicle traffic.” Drivers leaving the event were reportedly honking in an effort to get the group to move, and the father told investigators he eventually told them to get out of the road.
During that exchange, Cutler allegedly approached the father and made comments described in court records as “gang-related.”
The father allegedly responded, “No one gives a s— about that, man,” according to the affidavits. Investigators say Cutler then produced a pair of silver-colored brass knuckles and began striking him. Sagapolutele allegedly joined the assault and also used brass knuckles against the father and his son.
“Kaleb … began assaulting him and struck him in the head with the brass knuckles,” the affidavits state in reference to the father. The man told police he fell to the ground, where multiple people continued punching and kicking him. While down, he said he repeatedly tried to signal that he was done fighting before hearing his son yelling nearby.
The father told investigators he then saw Sagapolutele and Cutler attacking his son as the teen was on the ground. The affidavit alleges that Cutler shoved the boy against a vehicle while holding him by the neck, threw him down, and stomped on his stomach.
Both victims later identified Sagapolutele and Cutler as two of the alleged attackers. Authorities said additional suspects had not yet been apprehended as of Thursday, including a man police identified as Danion Hernandez.
Deputies reportedly pursued Sagapolutele and Cutler after arriving at the scene and took both men into custody. Investigators also recovered a bloodied set of brass knuckles after deputies allegedly saw Cutler attempt to discard them while he was being detained, according to the affidavits.
Sagapolutele and Cutler face deadly-weapon enhancements in addition to aggravated battery charges. Sagapolutele is also charged with obstructing and delaying an officer, while Cutler faces charges of destruction of evidence and obstructing and delaying an officer.
Both men are scheduled to appear in court for preliminary hearings on Sept. 17.
The post Father and son leaving state fair beaten by 2 young men with brass knuckles after dad told them ‘no one gives a s—’ about threats they were making: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
