A minor was struck in the mouth in Whiteville on the 18th while trying to intervene in an argument on behalf of his Step Mother.

It happened on Monday when the sheriff’s office says a sergeant found a man standing in the yard who said he’d been hit in the mouth with an axe by Patrick Gatlin, 39.

The man says Gatlin and his stepmother had been arguing when the minor attempted to escort him out of the house. He says that’s when Gatlin began punching him in the face and hit him with an axe.

Warrants are issued against Patrick Gatlin for assault with a deadly weapon.