KPD e-News Release: Suspect in Custody After Unprovoked Attack on Senior Neighbors with 2×4

A senior couple who reside at this residence, a 73 year old man and his 85 year old wife, were sitting on their front porch, minding their own business, when they were suddenly and deliberately attacked by their neighbor, Paul R. Kaser. Mr. Kaser made verbal threats of bodily injury toward the couple and then repeatedly struck the man in the head with a 4-foot section of 2×4 lumber. Kaser then knocked his neighbor off the porch and struck him again in the head, but this time with a metal lawn chair. Mr. Kaser’s children responded and escorted him back to his own house next door, located at 2120 Steadman Street.

The male victim was found to be bleeding significantly from the head. Sullivan County E.M.S. responded and transported him to a local medical facility for treatment of what appeared to be severe lacerations.

A warrant was soon obtained, charging Mr. Kaser with two counts of aggravated assault. Shortly before midnight that same evening, officers went to his residence to serve the warrant and found the front door ajar and Mr. Kaser apparently passed out on the living room floor. The officers handcuffed him and then stirred him from his slumber. He exhibited a strong odor of alcoholic beverage and immediately became combative, shouting expletives, flailing about, and pulling away. He even tried, unsuccessfully, to head-butt one of the arresting officers.

Mr. Kaser was placed in a police cruiser and transported to the Kingsport City Jail. In a vile act of defiance, while en route and while still handcuffed, he removed his shorts and defecated in the seat, and deliberately smeared his feces all over the back seat of the police cruiser.

Once inside the jail, he continued his hostile resistance, lunging aggressively at an officer and at one point grabbing a loose set of handcuffs and wielding them as a weapon. He was eventually disarmed and confined in a cell without further incident. As a result of his actions at the time of his arrest, while en route to jail, and after arrival at the jail, in addition to the two counts of Aggravated Assault, he was also charged with Simple Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer, Resisting Arrest, and Vandalism.

He was arraigned the following morning where his bond was set at $32,500 by the presiding judge. He was later transported to the Sullivan County Jail in Blountville where he remains confined.

On a related note, the interior of Mr. Kaser’s residence was found to be absolutely filthy and unsanitary. There was no running water and the toilets were overflowing with human waste. A referral was forwarded to the Department of Human Services and the City of Kingsport Code Enforcement Office for follow-up investigation of the horridly unhealthy living conditions.

43 Years of Age

Kingsport, TN

2) Simple Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer

3) Resisting Arrest

4) Vandalism

Kingsport, TN

Kingsport, TN