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Waynesville Mail

Teen Assailants Appear Before Judge

The alleged teen assailants in the assault against Danny Hale in the Mackinaw Casey’s parking lot that occurred on the evening of May 12th have had their first appearance in court last week. 4 adult teens were arrested by Mackinaw Police following the alleged assault, along with an unnamed teenage minor. The 4 adults: Blake Huffman, Ryan Robertson, Jorge Santana, and Jacob Ragon were transported to the Tazewell County Jail and charged with Mob Action and Aggravated Battery of a Senior Citizen, the last charge could possibly be upgraded to a Class 2 Felony.

Sources close to the investigation indicate that on June 9th, the cases of Santana and Ragon have been continued to a court date set for mid-July. Records from the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office indicate that Blake Huffman is still being held in custody and sources tell The Mail that Huffman had a court appearance on Monday, June 13th, in which Huffman’s bond was dropped to $70,000 with 10% to apply - meaning that Huffman must come up with $7,000 to post bond. Should he post bond, Huffman will be subject to a host of conditions as well as “pre-trial supervision”. 

No immediate information is available surrounding Ryan Robertson, though records from the Tazewell County Jail indicate that he is also still in custody. The Mail will monitor these cases and update when necessary.


Erik Malmgren
Correspondent

Erik Malmgren was the Mail Correspondent covering the Mackinaw, Deer Creek and Heritage Lake communities from August 2021 until July 2022.