Man arrested after beating involving belt buckles nearly two years ago

BLACKFOOT — Nearly two years after a group of juveniles attacked a man, a 19-year-old has been arrested and charged in connection with an assault in which large belt buckles were used as weapons.

Merrick Lavon Jackson was charged with felony aggravated battery and felony eluding a peace officer. If he is found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to court documents, the assault occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 3, 2024, at around 3 a.m., when an officer with the Blackfoot Police Department responded to a report of an assault involving multiple people.

The location given was the intersection of North Broadway Street and Francis Street, and upon the officer’s arrival, a man bleeding from the head ran at the patrol car.

The officer reported said the wounded man opened the patrol car’s passenger door, and it wasn’t until the officer ordered him away that the identity of the man was learned.

Asking him what happened, the victim reported that he had been walking home from the gym when a group he believed to be around a dozen began to perform “gang whistles” at him and calling him slurs.

The victim said he stood his ground and had challenged them to fight one on one, but the group advanced together. He recalls one unbuckling his pants and swinging the belt at him.

Jackson was identified through a Snapchat video that captured the beating and that he had struck the victim with the belt buckle.

Jackson had just turned 18 at the time of the assault.

The document states that two school resource officers were contacted and had identified others in the video.

After the beating, the victim managed to get away and began knocking on a nearby home, but took note of the vehicles the group got into. One was identified as a dark blue Chevrolet Silverado, which the officer later spotted.

The officer initiated a traffic stop and stopped the truck at the intersection of South Oak Street and West Pacific Street. After the officer got out of the patrol vehicle, the truck accelerated and turned onto U.S. Highway 91 heading south.

During the pursuit, the truck reached speeds over 100 mph and avoided a set of spike strips.

The police lost sight of the truck, and the pursuit was discontinued until Bannock County Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle in a field near Ballard Road and U.S. Highway 91.

The vehicle began to drive away, but stopped in another field, where two individuals got out and ran.

Deputies detained one person, but the other, Jackson, managed to escape.

They found a large steel buckle on the floor of the driver’s side and another in the back seat. Two opened alcohol containers were also found inside, as well as a wallet containing Jackson’s driver’s license.

The truck was registered to one of Jackson’s family members, and Fort Hall Police Department returned it.

At the scene, a Bannock County Sheriff’s deputy found a cellphone that had received multiple messages telling the detained individual not to say their names.

A warrant for Jackson’s arrest was obtained on Nov. 19, 2024, and the warrant was served on Sept. 17. Court documents do not indicate why there was a nearly two-year delay.

Jackson appeared in court on Monday for an initial appearance and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 1 at 8:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge J. Scott Andrew.

Jackson has been appointed a public defender. The Idaho State Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.

Although Jackson has been accused of a crime, that does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.