Court records say Robert Robbins entered the Columbus home with a key his former girlfriend believed he had lost.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 40-year-old Ohio man has been charged with felonious assault after police say he used a key to enter his ex-girlfriend’s home and attacked her with a machete, cutting her hair and leaving her with injuries to her head and hands.
Robert Robbins was arrested following the Sept. 6 incident at a home in the 600 block of South 22nd Street in Columbus, according to court records cited by local and national news organizations. He is charged with one count of felonious assault with a deadly weapon. Robbins appeared in court Thursday, Sept. 10, when a judge set his bond at $50,000. The allegation has not been proven in court.
Columbus Division of Police officers were called to the residence shortly before 8 a.m. that Sunday for a reported domestic-violence incident. When officers arrived, they found a woman inside the home with a significant cut to her head, according to accounts of the court records. The woman identified Robbins as her ex-boyfriend and told investigators that he had attacked her with a machete. Medics took her to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where her injuries were described as not life-threatening.
The woman later told investigators that Robbins had returned to the property the night before after being away for several days. The two argued outside, she said, before she went into the house and did not allow him inside. Court records say Robbins remained outside for hours, repeatedly knocking and asking to be let in. The woman eventually believed he had left and was sitting on a couch inside the home when he allegedly entered.
Investigators say Robbins used a key that he had previously told the woman was lost. According to the account she gave police, Robbins was angry that she had refused to let him into the home. Authorities allege that he approached her while carrying a machete that had been concealed behind his back. Police have not publicly released additional information explaining why Robbins still had access to the key or whether investigators recovered the weapon.
Court filings allege Robbins got on top of the woman during the confrontation and used the machete to cut off portions of her hair. The woman struggled to get away and suffered cuts to her head and hands, according to police and court-record accounts. Reporting on the case has not identified the woman, and her name is being withheld because she is a private person described by authorities as the victim of an alleged domestic assault.
Authorities have not publicly described what happened immediately after the confrontation or provided detailed information about how Robbins was taken into custody. Available reporting confirms that he was arrested and brought before a judge later in the week. No additional criminal counts connected with the incident had been publicly reported as of Saturday.
At Robbins’ arraignment, a judge set his bond at $50,000. If he is released, court conditions prohibit him from contacting the woman, possessing a firearm or consuming drugs or alcohol, according to reporting on the hearing. The restrictions remain conditions of the pending criminal case and do not represent a finding that Robbins committed the alleged assault.
The felonious-assault case remains pending. A publicly verified date for Robbins’ next proceeding was not identified in the reports reviewed Saturday. Police and court records remain the basis for the allegations, and Robbins is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty in court.