CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — A Mount Clare man went on trial Monday in Harrison County on charges of felony malicious assault and attempted burglary, and misdemeanor brandishing and battery.

Eric Michael Cottrill, 44, tried to break into a mobile home March 10, 2024, while his mother's two tenants were inside, then entered the trailer March 13 while one of the tenants was there, and shoved her, Assistant Prosecutor Gina Renzelli told jurors.

Then, on March 25, the tenants returned home to find Cottrill — without permission — astride a tractor they had borrowed, Renzelli said.

When confronted, Cottrill got off the tractor and gouged at the male tenant's eyes, causing an injury that led to hospital treatment at both WVU Medicine United Hospital Center and WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial

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