Two men in Florida are facing aggravated battery charges after police say a confrontation in a Publix parking lot escalated into a weapons-involved clash — one man allegedly armed with a machete, the other with a hatchet.
The Aug. 4 altercation between Everette Krichbaum, 52, and James Gay, 35, reportedly stemmed from tension over a romantic relationship, according to a police report.
Investigators in Panama City identified Gay as the “primary aggressor” in the dispute.
According to the arrest affidavit, Krichbaum was seated inside his vehicle outside the Publix when Gay walked up to him and initiated a heated verbal exchange.
Police allege Gay then went back to his own vehicle, retrieved a sheathed machete and returned, striking Krichbaum in the face with it.
The conflict had allegedly been building over a woman Krichbaum is currently dating and Gay previously dated, Stephanie Marshall told Fox News Digital. Marshall, who identified herself to the outlet as Gay’s girlfriend, is also named as a witness in a Panama City Police Department report.
Gay told officers that once the confrontation intensified, Krichbaum began swinging a hatchet.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Gay suffering from a severe cut to his pinky finger that exposed bone, along with a puncture wound to his lower abdomen, arrest records state.
Krichbaum had multiple lacerations to his hands and face, the police report shows. He told investigators he became unconscious when Gay hit him in the head with a machete.
Both Gay and Krichbaum were taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment. The police report shows that Gay told police he was “attacked … over his ex-girlfriend.”
That same day, Gay was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
It wasn’t Gay’s first altercation that turned violent, records show. In 2011, he was convicted of aggravated battery in the killing of a 16-year-old boy near Panama City. In that incident, Gay used a chain wrapped around his hand to fracture the skull of the teen, court records show. Other co-defendants also were charged in the boy’s death.
In 2012, Gay was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released early in June 2024, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
On Aug. 5, after Krichbaum was released from the hospital, he was arrested by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and US Marshals Service. He’s been charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability.
As of Aug. 7, both Gay and Krichbaum were being held in the Bay County Jail. Fox News Digital could not reach either man for comment.
It was not immediately clear if Krichbaum has an attorney. Gay is listed as representing himself.
