The young man hospitalized following an altercation at a camp on Lake Claiborne is recovering at home from a broken jaw and head injuries.

Waldo, Ark. resident Steve Dixon, the father of Robert Dixon, issued a statement Tuesday evening in which he addressed the 19-year-old’s injuries. In addition, the father included a rebuttal to a statement issued last week by the attorney of one of his son’s alleged attackers.

On July 12, the Claiborne Parish sheriff’s deputies responded to a call requesting an ambulance for an unconscious man. Upon arrival, the deputies were informed that Robert Dixon had been at a party at the lake.

According to reports, Dixon was injured when a fight broke out during a “drinking game.”

Due to his extensive injuries, he was airlifted to LSU Medical Sciences Center in Shreveport.

Three Minden men were arrested July 22 in connection to the incident.

Wesley Michael Branch, 21, Dane Alexander McFarland, 19, and Daniel Joseph Payne, 23, were arrested on warrants issued by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Branch and Payne, registered Mixed Martial Arts fighters, have been charged with aggravated second-degree battery and McFarland has been charged with second-degree battery.

“Robert was in ICU for 3 days with a broken jaw and head/brain trauma,” Steve Dixon stated in the release. “His jaw will be wired shut for four to six weeks and then he will have three broken teeth repaired.”

On July 24, during a Press-Herald interview, Minden attorney Eric Johnson, who has been hired to represent Payne, proclaimed his client innocent.

“The only thing he is guilty of is being present at a party where young kids were drinking alcohol,” Johnson said.

Johnson claimed that Dixon started the altercation and that his client never threw a punch during the fight. He also indicated that Branch was the person who struck Dixon, but only after Dixon swung at him first.

“The truth is that Robert got up from a table to avoid and leave the situation,” Steve Dixon said in his statement, which was emailed to the Press-Herald. “Wesley Branch hit Robert from behind as Robert was walking away, knocking him unconscious. Daniel Payne then hit Robert about 10 times in the side of the head on a concrete floor with a cast on his hand. Dane McFarland joined in on the beating as all three continued to beat Robert and knee him in the head.”

Steve Dixon said the above information was gained by eye-witnesses at the scene, as his son was unconscious.

“Evidently the witnesses were convincing enough for the sheriff’s office to issue warrants for the arrest of Branch and Payne for aggravated second-degree battery with a maximum sentence of 15 years and on McFarland for second-degree battery with a maximum sentence of 10 years,” the statement continued. 

Dixon addressed Johnson’s claim that his client passed a polygraph regarding the July 12 incident by saying, “Payne’s polygraph is in-admissible in court according to our lawyer, Chris Bowman of Jonesboro, Louisiana.”

“The truth is on our side. We’ll see Payne, Branch, and McFarland in court,” the statement continued. “The Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office is bringing these criminal charges based on their investigator’s interviews of several Louisiana and Arkansas witnesses of the attack and beating. The investigator took statements from numerous witnesses, not just friends of Robert and conducted a very thorough investigation. We have confidence in the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the criminal justice system.”

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