Police responded to a call about a homeless man fighting with another man in front of a shop in the 100 block of West Oak Street Saturday.
The caller told police that the homeless man tried to get away after the fight began, but the other man chased after him. Police found the man who had chased the homeless man a short distance from the shop.
The man told police the homeless man had demanded money, and when he refused to give him any, the homeless man began swinging at him, striking him in the face.
The man hit him back in self-defense, he told police, and the homeless man ran away.
Officers found the homeless man sitting in front of the shop. He told them the other man had approached him, asked for money and became angry and threatening when he refused.
The homeless man said he had tried to walk into the shop, but the other man pulled him back and began hitting him. The homeless man told police that when he fought back, the other man hit him with a metal chair.
The other man denied hitting the homeless man with a chair, the report stated.
The homeless man told police when he attempted to walk away, the other man followed, pulled a knife and threatened him.
A witness confirmed the homeless man’s story, the report stated.
The other man was arrested and charged with assault, according to the report.
Other reports
1700 block of Village East Drive — A woman told Denton police that a water filter salesman took jewelry as payment for a filtration system and didn’t give her any of the promised equipment.
The woman received a call Friday from a man who told her if she sent him $200, he would give her $300 in the form of a gift card and include a bonus gift, she reported. She didn’t send any money.
On Saturday, a man knocked on her door and identified himself as the man she’d talked with on the phone the previous day, the woman told police.
The man asked if he could go into her apartment and demonstrate the water filtration system, the woman reported, so she let him in.
The woman decided she wanted to buy the system, but she didn’t have enough money, so the man told her she could give him anything of value as payment, she told police.
When she gave him four pieces of jewelry worth about $1,950 and asked if it would be enough, he told her he would have to ask his boss, according to the report. The man gave her a receipt and said he would be back in about 15 minutes, the woman reported.
He took the jewelry but didn’t return, so she said she called him.
The man told her he would be back in 12 to 15 minutes, but he never returned and quit answering his phone, she told police.
— Rachel Mehlhaff
Denton County Crime Stoppers will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in these or other crimes. Callers will remain anonymous. Call 1-800-388-TIPS (8477). Reach the Denton police narcotics tip line at 940-565-5801.
