Dog poop confrontation in Branchburg leads to assault charge

While a lot of us have annoying neighbors, interactions don’t often become physical. This one included an attack. A New Jersey man entered a guilty plea for third-degree aggravated assault in a case that revolves around dog poop.

According to MyCentralJersey.com, the man, James Hovey, of Branchburg, was walking his dog with his sister. The dog did what dogs will do, but neither Hovey nor his sister picked up after the dog. A resident confronted Hovey about the droppings. Hovey then went home but he couldn’t let it go. He returned to the neighbor’s house to continue the argument.

According to Hovey, the neighbor answered the door while holding a baseball bat. A struggle ensued as Hovey tried to wrest the bat from the man’s grip. Using what are described as his “mixed martial arts skills,” Hovey successfully disarmed the man, but he didn’t leave it at that.

He wrestled the neighbor to the ground and struck him several times, causing quite a bit of damage. The man suffered multiple facial fractures and bleeding on the brain. At this point you would think Hovey would quit but he kept going, applying a “rear naked choke hold” to the man, MyCentralJersey.com reports, and might have continued if a third party didn’t intervene.

In court, Hovey tried to claim that his intention wasn’t to hurt the man, although his actions would pretty much indicate that that was a lie. MyCentralJersey.com goes on to report Hovey told the judge he was just trying to subdue and disarm the man.

Here’s a thought: just clean up after your dog and you won’t get charged with anything.

Hovey will be sentenced in March.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.