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Rene Boucher, 59, waived the formal reading of the charge at a
hearing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Warren County Attorney Amy
Milliken said by telephone.
Boucher, the Republican senator's neighbor, is charged with
fourth-degree assault causing minor injury, for which he faces
up to a year in jail if convicted. A pretrial hearing was set
for Nov. 30.
Paul, 54, told police that Boucher came onto his property in a
gated community near Bowling Green and tackled him from behind,
the Bowling Green Daily News reported, citing an arrest warrant.
Paul said on Twitter on Wednesday that he suffered six broken
ribs and that X-rays showed a pleural effusion, which is a
buildup of fluid in the tissues that line the lungs and the
chest.
The Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation are investigating last Friday's incident, Milliken
said.
Citing unnamed sources, Fox News reported on Thursday that Paul
had been told federal charges were expected in the case. The
senator's office did not immediately reply to a request for
comment on that possibility.
Matt Baker, Boucher's attorney, was not immediately available to
comment.
Baker told Bowling Green television station WBKO that the
incident was related to a property dispute and called the idea
that Paul was "blindsided" an unfair characterization. Baker
also told the TV station that politics was not a motivating
factor in the dispute.
Media reports have said Boucher, also a physician like Paul, had
a long-running dispute with the senator.
Milliken said Boucher's $7,500 bond requiring him to keep a
distance of at least 1,000 feet (305 m) between himself and Paul
remained in effect.
Earlier this week, U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell
said Paul would return next week.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing
by Tom Brown and Peter Cooney)
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