Sturgis man who attacked family member with hammer found guilty on four charges

A St. Joseph County Circuit Court jury returned guilty verdicts this week on four of five charges lodged against 29-year-old Sturgis resident Brandon Forbes, who attacked a family member with a hammer in 2022.

Forbes was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon (felonious assault), and on three of four counts of resisting/obstructing police following a one-day trial in front of Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman.

Stutesman will sentence Forbes on Friday, June 23, who faces up to but not more than four years in prison and/or a fine of no more than $2,000 for felonious assault. Each count of resisting/obstructing police can be charged under local ordinances as a misdemeanor, punishable by one year in county jail or less, or under state law as a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. With that said, Forbes was convicted as a third habitual offender, which could result in a 50% increase on the maximum sentence of a felony charge.

Assistant County Prosecutor Casey Johnson tried the case on behalf of the state, introducing testimony from six sheriff’s deputies and the victim of the aforementioned assault.

According to St. Joseph County Prosecutor David Marvin, Forbes was arrested on August 14, 2022, after officers from the Sturgis Police Department and deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a residence for a complaint of an assault. An investigation into the matter revealed Forbes had attacked a family member with a hammer, for which Forbes was placed under arrest and taken to county jail. During the intake process, Forbes is said to have attempted to strike a deputy, and resisted deputies’ efforts to restrain him, during the course of which he was tased.

Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor and publisher of Watershed Voice.