A 48-year-old Simsboro man was arrested on a simple battery count after a fight outside a Ruston convenience store that began with another customer’s complaint about how he had parked his truck at the fuel pumps.
Benjamin Morris was arrested at 6:25 p.m. Sept. 11 on one count of simple battery and an outstanding warrant charging simple criminal damage to property, according to an affidavit. Bond was set at $1,000 on the battery count and $5,000 on the warrant.
A Ruston police officer dispatched to the store in reference to a fight in progress found Morris standing outside.
Morris said that while he was inside the store, another man confronted him about the way he had parked his large truck at the fuel pumps. A verbal altercation followed, and Morris said he punched the man during the argument, which led to a physical fight between the two.
Morris had what appeared to be a bite mark on his right arm and bruising around his eye and nose.
Surveillance footage from the store showed the two men arguing before the other man turned and began walking away. Morris followed behind him and struck him with a punch, and the fight followed.
Morris was advised of his Miranda rights. He was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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