A night out at a pub in a KMart shopping plaza in the Florida Keys ended with three men in jail after accusations of a punch thrown over a woman, rocks shattering a windshield and a man trying to mow down two others with his car, deputies said Friday.
William Cobaugh, 49, told the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office he pre-emptively punched Nicholas Michael Jones, 22, in the face at the Brass Monkey bar early Friday in Marathon because Jones was acting aggressively and “had that look in his eyes.”
The older man claimed Jones was upset because Cobaugh was at the nightspot with Jones’ ex-girlfriend, a woman Jones said was still his girlfriend. Cobaugh said Jones was harassing the woman.
After Jones left the bar and then Cobaugh also left with his friend Ian Matthew Hildebrand, 32, the older men say Jones tried to hit their vehicle with his Mitsubishi, and then run them over as they scrambled on top of parked cars to avoid getting hit.
Jones claimed the men chased him while he was in his Mitsubishi. But witnesses said Jones intentionally tried to run the men over, the sheriff’s office said.
Cobaugh and Hildebrand are then accused of throwing rocks at the Mitsubishi, which shattered its windshield.
Several deputies and witnesses swarmed the parking lot after 2 a.m. as they tried to piece the evening’s events together.
Cobaugh, of Duck Key, Hildebrand, of Key Largo, were charged with battery, property damage and throwing a missile or weapon into a dwelling, vehicle, building or aircraft.
Jones, of Marathon, was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
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