An incident early Monday outside a Joplin convenience store remained under investigation by police on Tuesday as a possible felony assault.
Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department said officers were called at 12:28 a.m. Monday to the Fastrip store at 3347 S. Range Line Road in reference to a man needing medical help after an assault. Niess said officers found Clinton T. Darnell, 23, 6209 Douglas Fir Road, lying unresponsive in a pool of blood on the ground outside the business.
Witnesses told police that Darnell and another man had exchanged words, and the other man had knocked him unconscious with a single punch, Niess said. He said the other man left the scene before police arrived.
Darnell suffered a cut to his head and bruising on his lower back, and was taken to Freeman Hospital West, Niess said.
