Two Broken Bow, Okla., men face charges of aggravated assault and battery for assaulting and dragging a 74-year-old man with a truck after an argument over "mudding" a hayfield, according to District Attorney Mark Matloff.
Konnor Mitchell, 21, and Byron Duncan, 23, will be charged with aggravated assault and battery, Matloff said.
Scores of upset people have called the sheriff's department, the district attorney and the McCurtain Gazette after news of the alleged dragging of 74-year-old Neil Jackson quickly spread on social media.
According to a sheriff's department report, Officer George Touchstone and EMS responded to an assault call in Oak Hill about 3 p.m. Saturday.
Touchstone found Neil Jackson lying on the ground with blood "spotted" on his neck and face. He had a broken leg that required hospitalization.
Jackson said Konnor Mitchell and another man he didn't know had assaulted him after he confronted them about "mudding" in his hayfield, a report said.
He told Touchstone he had problems in the past with Mitchell rutting up his hayfield and went to talk to him about it Saturday. Jackson said he and Mitchell argued, and Jackson "had a hold of his vehicle" when Mitchell drove away, thus dragging him beside the truck.
Jackson said he got up and followed Mitchell's truck toward Mitchell's grandmother's house, which is on the same property.
Touchstone and Deputy Jesse Jones put out descriptions of Mitchell's vehicle and got a phone tip about his whereabouts.
The officers spoke to Mitchell and Duncan, who both gave statements, and took Mitchell into custody.
Mitchell told Touchstone that he, Duncan and two women were going to his grandmother's pond to fish and had permission from his grandmother to do so.
He said Jackson leases property from his grandmother.
While they were at the pond, Jackson drove toward them in a utility vehicle and the two began to argue, Mitchell said in a statement.
Two women and Duncan gave similar statements, saying Jackson began choking Mitchell through the truck window while the two were arguing.
One woman said Mitchell "stepped on the throttle" at that point, apparently while Jackson still was holding onto Mitchell's throat.
"The old man literally allowed himself to be dragged next to the truck, still choking Konnor," one of the two women told Touchstone.
Duncan thought Jackson was dragged about 75 feet before he got up and followed them in a utility vehicle toward Mitchell's grandmother's house, a report said.
The female witnesses said Jackson tried to ram Mitchell's vehicle when they got to his grandmother's house.
An argument ensued.
"When we got to the house, (Jackson) attacked Byron," one of the female witnesses said.
Mitchell kicked Jackson's legs several times, Duncan said, and Jackson fell to his knees and Mitchell kneed Jackson in the head, Duncan said in a report.
"Konnor kicked him in the legs, and he finally went down and stayed down," one of the two women said.
Duncan, Mitchell and the two women claimed they were not "mudding" in Mitchell's grandmother's field, but had only driven through a boggy road getting to the pond, a report said.
Reports quickly spread on social media, saying Jackson had a bleeding brain, broken ribs and other injuries.
The DA's office said there was no evidence, medical or otherwise, of swelling or blood on Jackson's brain.
Both Mitchell and Duncan remain in the county jail.