UTICA -- Two Oneida County men were arrested earlier this week after police say they attacked two other men with a machete in separate incidents.
According to Utica Police, around 10:00 Tuesday night officers responded to the 1500 block of Whitesboro Street for a report of a robbery. The alleged victim told police that he was walking down the street when two men and a woman approached him and demanded money. When the victim refused, he says he was punched in the face by one of the men, and the other hit him in the stomach with a machete. The suspects then fled on foot.
Not long after on that same night police were called to Stark Street for a report of an assault. Upon arrival they found a man who had been slashed in the face and was bleeding profusely. Witnesses say a woman and two men came to a home over a child custody dispute. Police say the woman wanted to speak with the father of her child, who would not leave the residence due to the presence of the two other men. Instead, the resident’s father confronted the suspects, and was allegedly attacked by the suspects and slashed in the face with the machete.
Police say they have arrested the two men allegedly responsibe for both attacks. They are identified as 24-year-old Brandon Hill of Noyes Street and 25-year-old Jamie Lotoski of Erie Street, both in Utica. Both Hill and Lotoski are charged with felony assault and robbery, and Lotoski faces an additional charge of felony criminal possession of a weapon.
