RICHLAND HILLS -- The father and son were alone in the house when police arrived, a freshly carved pentagram covering the boy's back.
Blood, apparently from the child's wounds, had been smeared on the sides and the top of the home's door frame -- similar to biblical accounts of Passover.Richland Hills police say the father, Brent Troy Bartel, 39, wounded his 6-year-old son, then called 911 and calmly told a dispatcher that "I shed some innocent blood."When the dispatcher asked why, Bartel replied, "It's a holy day."Bartel was arrested early Wednesday at the house, in an older, middle-class neighborhood. Officers found the boy -- described by a neighbor as a "cute little booger" -- wearing pajama pants without a shirt.The mother had fled to a neighboring home to get help."There was a large pentagram carved into his back which covered the majority of his back," Richland Hills police Sgt. Nathan Stringer said in a news release. "The child was ... shivering in the cold so officers wrapped him in a jacket."The boy was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center, where he was treated and released Wednesday.Bartel was in the North Richland Hills Jail, with bail set at $500,000. He faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/family member.His mother, in a telephone interview from Portland, Ore., said her son does not have a history of mental illness but has recently been under tremendous stress, mostly because of marital problems."Brent is not a demon," Lori Ponce said. "He is loving. He loves that boy. Something happened. Don't paint him as some crazy man. No, that's not him."Stepfather John Ponce said Bartel had been searching for his spirituality."He is deep into the Old Testament," John Ponce said in the same phone interview from Portland. "There's a possibility with all of this pain and marital strife and such, he may have resorted to Old Testament references and then convoluted them."If you know about the Old Testament, the Passover marks on the door frame were done with a sacrificial lamb, definitely not sacrificial children."'He's trying tohurt my son'Richland Hills police first responded to the home about 12:10 a.m. after Bartel called 911. A neighbor also called for police after the child's mother had fled to the neighbor's home.In the 911 call, Bartel told the dispatcher that he "inscribed a pentagram on my son."In the neighbor's 911 call, she passed along information provided by the child's mother, who can be heard crying in the background."Something is wrong with her husband," the neighbor told the dispatcher.Seconds later, the dispatcher asked to talk to the mother."He's trying to hurt my son," the mother says.When officers arrived, Bartel and his son were inside the home."He was ordered out of the house," Stringer said. "I would say his demeanor was very flat. There were no indications that he was under the influence of any drugs."Though he referred to a "holy day" when talking to a dispatcher, police said there was no mention of Wednesday's once-a-century date of 12-12-12.Investigators confiscated the box cutter that they believe was used to carve the pentagram, a five-pointed star used as a religious symbol.Officials with Child Protective Services and a crime victim liaison are working with the boy and his mother. CPS officials said they have not been involved with the family before.Stringer said police will not release photos of the pentagram on the boy's back."It's disturbing to look at," Stringer said.Police were calledto the house beforeNeighbors Bob and Joyce Pierce, who live across the street in the 3700 block of Ruth Road, said the Bartels had lived in the house about a year. They and other neighbors said the family of three mostly kept to itself."I fixed them cookies once, and they're not real sociable," Joyce Pierce said. "He comes over once in a while to borrow a yard tool."Bob Pierce said Bartel "mows his yard and keeps good care of it."But "they're so quiet that you forget they're over there most of the time," Joyce Pierce said.Cecilia Lopez, who lives just down the street, said she "only ever saw the man. ... I never saw the lady. I didn't even know there was a child."Joyce Pierce said the boy mostly "plays out in the back. She didn't let him play loose."Richland Hills police have responded to several minor calls to the home, according to police records."Most of the calls have been arguments between mom and dad," Stringer said. "The calls have never involved the child."The Pierces said they called police during one of the fights -- at Bartel's request."He came over to call police because she wouldn't let him use the phone," Joyce Pierce said.Bartel has also been in trouble outside Texas.In 2007, after being found guilty of a turning violation in Lancaster County, Pa., Bartel walked across the courtroom toward Judge Dennis Reinaker and put his driver's license on the bench, according to an article in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era."I officially resign as a truck driver," Bartel said, according to the newspaper, "and now I'm about to have a little fun."Bartel was told to step away from the judge, and he walked toward the police officer who had given him the ticket. Bartel tried to punch him.He was wrestled to the floor by several law enforcement officers and struggled violently before being handcuffed, according to the newspaper."It was unbelievable," Reinaker said.Lori Ponce said that her son, who worked as a long-haul trucker, was frustrated by the judicial system and that he served six months in jail.'This is not him at all'Ponce said that besides marital problems, her son has been under stress because of financial issues and in excruciating pain from a hernia for which he had no health insurance to seek treatment.Both his mother and stepfather wondered whether that stress caused him to snap. They said he did not use drugs."This is not the man that I've come to know over the last dozen years," John Ponce said. "This is not him at all."The Ponces said Bartel had met his wife, who is from the Philippines, over the Internet. After two years of communicating online and having some visits, Bartel brought his wife to the United States and the two married in Portland in 2004.The Ponces said that Bartel strove to be a good father and that in the last couple of years, he had studied the Bible and had even talked about having a dragon tattoo removed from his back."He thought, 'Now that I'm studying Christianity and the Bible, maybe I have sent a message to Satanists or demons that I'm one of them,'" John Ponce said. "He felt guilty."John Ponce said his stepson called home about once a week, "questioning all sort of things, specifically biblical references.""He's been trying to, so to speak, find himself as to what he believes as far as a spirit center, faith center, and it's been a hard road for him," John Ponce said.He said he hopes Bartel is evaluated medically, emotionally and psychologically to find out what drove him to this behavior."We want the answers on those questions," John Ponce said."What we want most for our son is for him to be able to be happy with himself and to appreciate the child he's already created."Domingo Ramirez Jr.,817-390-7763ramirez@star-telegram.comTerry Evans, 817-390-7620tevans@star-telegram.comDeanna Boyd, 817-390-7655dboyd@star-telegram.comAudio: 911 call from Richland Hills father
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