Texas police arrest man for using machete to slice off hand in fight

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A man suspected of wielding a machete and slicing off another man's hand during a blade fight outside a bar in Bryan, Texas has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault, police said on Monday.

Paulino Martinez, 38, was arrested on Saturday and charged with the felony that can bring up to 99 years in prison. He was also charged with illegally carrying a weapon into a place where alcohol is served police said.

There was no lawyer listed for him in an online arrest report.

The suspect got into a battle with the other man, who also was carrying a machete, in an incident captured on a security camera that took place over the Halloween weekend in the town about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Austin.

Once the man's hand was lopped off, Martinez drove away and bar staff put the severed body part on ice, the Bryan-College Station Eagle newspaper reported.

There was no information available on the condition of the man who lost his hand, it said.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Andrew Hay)