With snow on the ground, it’s been quiet for the most part on a Cresskill street where a resident said a neighbor sucker-punched him last month while he was blowing leaves.

Police arrested 59-year-old John Smith on simple assault charges after his 63-year-old Grant Avenue neighbor claimed Smith cold-cocked him, knocked him down and grabbed his cellphone – tossing it into a leaf pile -- when he tried to call for help, Detective Sgt. Jason Lanzilotti said.

Cresskill Emergency Medical Services treated the victim and took him to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center with bruises on his face and finger following the Nov. 14 confrontation.

Smith, who contended that he was defending himself when his neighbor attacked him with a leaf blower, was released pending a Municipal Court hearing.

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