Walker D. Rainey, 22, of Steelville, stands charged with one count class C felony assault in the second degree and one count class D felony unlawful use of a weapon while Matthew J. Bantel, 33, of Leasburg, faces a charge of one count class D felony unlawful use of a weapon. Both of their charges are the result of an incident that allegedly took place on Oct. 30 in Cuba.

According to the probable cause statements on file in the criminal cases, Bantel got into a fight with an unknown man at Huddle House. Rainey and Dale Kramlich saw what they thought was a knife in Bantel’s hand, so they went outside to try to stop the fight and get the two men to leave.

However, Bantel admitted that he then began swinging the knife at Rainey and Kramlich, so Rainey got into his vehicle and drove towards Bantel. Rainey then is alleged to have gotten out of his vehicle with a Stevens model 62, .22 caliber rifle in an attempt to scare Bantel away. When Bantel ran towards the Phillips 66 gas station, Rainey reportedly got into his vehicle, followed him and then chased him around the gas station, attempting to hit him with the vehicle.

Rainey told police that he was just trying to get Bantel to leave Huddle House and to get away from Kramlich and himself. When police retrieved Rainey’s gun from his vehicle, it was not loaded; however, there was a fully loaded magazine within his reach. There was also a full box of ammunition in the driver’s side rear floorboard.