According to police, an Indiana man is facing felony charges for allegedly stabbing two brewery patrons with a “pocketknife” during a Friday night scuffle that began over one of the victims’ fandom for the New York Knicks, who were playing the suspect’s hometown Pacers that night.
Jarrett Funke, 24, has been charged with battery with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon in connection with the May 23 attack on the Danny Boy Beer Works in Carmel’s 12700 block of Meeting House Road.
Funke, a Carmel native, allegedly threw a sports-fueled fit at the brewery while the Knicks-Pacers game was on, flipping the victim’s Knicks hat off his head and repeatedly yelling “f— you” at them, according to Funke’s probable cause affidavit, which Law&Crime obtained on Wednesday.
The victims both claim they did nothing to provoke Funke, telling police that he “began aggressively mocking” one of them out of nowhere “for being a New York Knicks fan,” according to the affidavit.
“F— you; you still have a f—ing problem. “Take it outside!” Funke allegedly yelled while his own father held him back, according to the affidavit.
The victim told police that after about five minutes, “everything settled down” and he went outside with a friend to smoke a cigarette.
“Victim 1 stated no other people were present on the back patio, when suddenly, the accused ‘stormed through the fence’ and began attacking Victim 2,” according to the statement of charges. “Victim 1 stated Victim 2 and the accused were on the ground, when Victim 1 grabbed the accused saying, ‘Hey, chill the f— out, chill the f— out!'”
Funke did not chill out, instead stabbing both men in the back and leg, according to Carmel police.
According to the affidavit, Funke’s father was shocked by his actions and attempted to persuade him to stop provoking the victims inside the brewery before Funke was eventually kicked out.
“The accused’s father stated prior to this incident, while inside the bar, his son walked over to Victim and ‘flipped his cap off his head,'” according to law enforcement.
“The accused’s father stated he promptly walked over to his son and stated, ‘No, we ‘re not going to do that’ and sat him back down afterwards.”
According to the affidavit, both the victims and Funke stated that one of them displayed a “pocketknife” similar to Funke’s before he brandished his own and stabbed them.
But the victim who had it claims he didn’t intend to use it and had put it away prior to the assault.
“The accused stated he could see Victim 1 and Victim 2 through the fence of the patio, as he was walking to his car, parked nearby,” according to the waiver. “The accused stated that he was walking towards Victims 1 and 2 to see what the problem was because they were ‘talking s—.'” The accused stated that despite seeing Victim 2 holding a knife, he approached him, resulting in the altercation.
Funke allegedly told police that the victim used a knife to push him to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face.
He stated that “from what he can remember, while he was on his back being punched” he retrieved his pocketknife from his hoodie and “swung it around” towards the victim’s back with his right hand.
According to police, “multiple witness accounts,” Funke is the “primary aggressor,” according to the affidavit.
Funke appeared in court in Hamilton County on Tuesday, where his bail was set at $20,000. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for August 5, and his trial is set to begin on September 8.
