Portage Man Beats A Male With Bat After Woman Dies
On Wednesday December 16th, 2020 at approximately 6:30 AM officers of the Portage Police Department responded to an address in the 1100 block of Camelot Manor in reference to a 911 call reporting a drug overdose.
Upon arrival, officers located the forty-year-old female victim in a back bedroom. They administered the anti-opiate overdose drug Narcan and initiated CPR but the victim could not be resuscitated and responding paramedics confirmed she was deceased. The officers on scene reported that the death has the appearance of a heroin overdose but that has not yet been confirmed through toxicology results from the coroner’s office. The scene of the death was the residence of the female victim and her long-time boyfriend, Michael Simmons, Portage Police said in a release. Mr. Simmons was very emotional and made statements blaming the death on another male. Mr. Simmons stated that he doesn’t believe this other male provided the victim with heroin but was responsible for “introducing” her to heroin approximately one year ago. Officers stood by until family members arrived on scene to stay with Mr. Simmons.
Later, at approximately 9:35am officers were dispatched to a separate residence in the 1100 block of Camelot Manor in reference to several reports of a disturbance with a male yelling, “I’m going to kill you!” followed by the sound of someone being struck. Other witnesses reported a man carrying a baseball bat in this same area. Upon arrival at the second scene officers located the victim who is a 40-year-old Portage resident. The victim reported being struck about the head several times with a baseball bat sustaining a laceration with swelling to the top of his head as well as bruising to the face. The victim identified his attacker as Michael Simmons. The victim further reported that Mr. Simmons was blaming him for his girlfriend’s death during the attack.
Officers returned to Mr. Simmons’ residence where he surrendered to them without incident. The baseball bat believed to have been used was also recovered. The victim was treated on-scene by paramedics but he refused transport to a local hospital for further treatment.
Simmons, 40, of Portage was charged with:
Burglary Armed With A Deadly Weapon LVL 2 Felony
Battery With A Deadly Weapon Level 5 Felony
