California Man Sentenced to Four Years Prison After Claiming Girlfriend’s Dog Was “Possessed” in Machete Attack
A Butte County judge has sentenced a 33-year-old Oroville man to four years in state prison following a violent incident in which he attacked his girlfriend and her dog with a machete. The sentencing, announced this week by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, concludes a case that began with a bizarre claim of demonic possession.
The Incident
Charles Dean Hipes Jr. was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty, and infliction of corporal injury. The attack occurred on April 3, 2025, near the Highway 70 bridge at Riverbend Park in Oroville. According to prosecutors, Hipes began swinging a machete at his girlfriend’s dog, insisting the animal was “possessed.”
When the girlfriend intervened to protect her pet, she was struck by the blade. She sustained significant injuries, requiring staples to close a wound on her head and stitches for a laceration on her finger. The dog, which was cut on the right shoulder during the altercation, received veterinary care and has reportedly made a full recovery.
Defense and Objections
During the proceedings, the defense highlighted that the injury to the girlfriend was not intentional but the result of her intervening in the attack on the dog. Hipes’s behavior at the scene—specifically his assertion that the dog was possessed—suggested a potential mental health crisis, raising questions among observers about the adequacy of a prison sentence versus psychiatric intervention. Furthermore, the four-year sentence has drawn criticism from animal rights advocates who argue that violent acts involving edged weapons and animal cruelty often warrant stiffer penalties to ensure public safety.
Background and Prior Offenses
This was not Hipes’s first run-in with the law involving a machete. Court records reveal a troubling pattern of behavior; just months prior to the assault, in June 2024, Hipes was convicted of felony vandalism for hacking at seven trees in a public park with a machete. For that offense, he received a split sentence of jail time and mandatory supervision.
According to the District Attorney, Hipes violated the terms of his probation multiple times, serving short jail stints before his probation was ultimately revoked following the attack on his girlfriend. The escalation from property damage to violent assault against living victims underscores the challenges the justice system faces in monitoring repeat offenders with a history of weaponized behavior.
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