Douglas Walker

dwalker@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — It’s not unusual for city police to be called to physical altercations between acquaintances.

Instances where the participants in such cases have a combined age of 149 years are rare, however.

An 80-year-old Muncie man was arrested Sunday morning after he was accused of attacking his 69-year-old neighbor while the alleged victim was mowing his yard.

His accuser said James Walter Jones, of the 3900 block of North Janney Avenue, repeatedly punched him in the back of the head both before and after he got off his riding mower.

During an ensuing struggle, the man said he grabbed the 80-year-old Jones in a headlock “and threw him over his shoulder,” an officer wrote.

The neighbor said he and Jones then “rolled around in the rocks,” with the older man repeatedly saying he was “going to get him for killing his grass.”

Jones’ neighbor — who declined emergency medical treatment — had multiple scrapes and abrasions on his face, arms and legs, the report said. He also denied doing anything to harm Jones’ grass.

Jones — who reportedly acknowledged striking the first blow — had scrapes on his left ear and arm, according to the report.

He was preliminarily charged with battery and was later released from the Delaware County jail.

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