North Fort Myers brothers arrested after shillelagh beating

Two North Fort Myers brothers who told police they had taken illegal drugs are facing aggravated assault charges after an argument led to a fight between them involving a shillelagh, a knife and a caulking gun.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office was called to Cape Coal Hospital Friday morning where Daniel Ehrhardt, 35, was being treated for cuts and bruises. He told deputies that his brother, Karl Ehrhardt, 39, had hit him with the shillelagh, an Irish wooden club.

Deputies noted that Daniel Ehrhardt had also recently been in a motorcycle crash but he told them his injuries, which were sutured already, had been from the fight.

Daniel Ehrhardt told deputies that he had just moved in with his brother after he was evicted from a previous address and that the two had been fighting. He also said he and his brother had used Molly, a synthetic, psychoactive drug also known as Ecstasy.

The report said that Daniel Ehrhardt said that his brother had gone to Wal-Mart and used all the funds on his EBT, sparking an argument. Daniel Ehrhardt claimed his brother beat him with the club and then threw him out of the house.

However, Karl Ehrhardt told deputies that his brother gave him the EBT card to use in lieu of rent and that when he returned from Wal-Mart his brother started berating him and approached him in an aggressive manner holding a knife and punched the older brother above the eye.

Karl Ehrhardt told deputies that he threw a caulking gun at his brother but missed. The two began trading punches and Karl Ehrhardt said he picked up the shillelagh and hit his brother, who was still holding a knife.

During the fight, Karl Ehrhardt said his brother stabbed him twice causing small scratches on his left side.

Witnesses to the fight and others in the home said Daniel Ehrhardt tried to get them to say his brother was the attacker.

Both men have Jan. 4, 2016, court hearings.