SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane man is out of the hospital after being attacked in his home by a man he gave food and shelter to.
Bob Peeler, who recently retired after 42 years at SNAP helping low-income individuals, suffered a fractured skull when police say a homeless man staying in his basement struck him in the head.
“For something like this to happen at the hands of one of the people he was helping for the last six years, it was really shocking,” said Peeler’s daughter, Heather Clark.
Peeler and his wife supported a man named Chad Counts over the last several years. This year, the couple allowed Counts and his dog to stay in their basement in order to escape the cold temperatures.
“It started giving him meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving, we would give him meals at our family dinners and, you know, coffee in the morning,” Clark said.
According to court documents, Counts was "screaming and carrying on" in the basement of Peeler's home on the night of Dec. 16. Peeler and his wife then went down to the basement to ask him to quiet down. Peeler's wife then returned upstairs.
Peeler began going back upstairs but told police he returned when Counts began "cussing him out." When Peeler got down to the basement, he told police all the lights were off.
"Chad had turned the lights out or unscrewed a light bulb to where it was dark," Clark said. "My dad couldn't see anything and he just got hit in the head, knocked out for a minute and then apparently had to have been hit again and, you know, he ended up with a skull fracture. He ended up with some bleeding on his brain."
Counts ran off and Peeler was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital where he spent one night in the ICU. He was released Monday morning, around the same time Counts was arrested at a Spokane Valley food bank, where Peeler’s other daughter works.
"My papa wants him to get the help he needs, those were his exact words,” Clark said. “He does not represent the homeless community of Spokane, I don't want people to see this and think he's a representation of the homeless in Spokane. Not everybody is violent, not everybody is going to harm you."
Counts is charged with one count of first-degree assault. He remains in the Spokane County Jail on a $25,000 bond. During his first court appearance on Tuesday, Dec. 20, a judge imposed a no contact order between Peeler and Counts.
Counts' arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday, Dec. 29.
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