An 85-year-old man was arrested after an argument over a handicapped parking placard led him to hit another man with his cane.
KDVR reports John Copeland was in a car parked in a handicapped space at a Denver, Colorado Home Depot store when he was approached by a volunteer police officer who enforces handicapped parking violations in Denver.
The police officer reportedly took Copeland’s handicapped parking placard when he realized the placard was expired. When he refused to give it back to Copeland, the two men argued.
Copeland claimed when he went to grab the placard from the officer, “he slammed the door on me, and that’s when I struck him with my cane.”
The two men disagree about whether the officer identified himself as a member of the police department. Copeland was cited for a handicapped parking violation.
More than two weeks after the incident, Copeland’s family says he was rousted out of bed at about midnight by police who showed up at his home to arrest him.
Copeland was charged with felony second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. He was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond.
