Man arrested for shooting woman in face with crossbow

CROSS COUNTY, Arkansas (KTRK) -- A man was arrested after deputies say he shot a woman in the face with a crossbow.

Janet Partain drove herself to the hospital with an arrow piercing the lower left part of her face and coming out the back of her head. The hospital was able to remove it from her face.

"It was an odd sight to see someone with an arrow in their face and they're still conscious and talking to me," said Capt. Jeff Nichols with the Cross County Sheriff's Office.

Partain says it all started as an argument with Joseph Avellino who she says stole from her.

She went to his home to confront him and that's when things escalated quickly.

Partain says Avellino fired an arrow at her 14-year-old son and 15-year-old nephew. She says she got hit while pushing them out of the way.

Joseph Avellino, 34, is facing first-degree battery and three counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.