Police Waved Over for Alleged Bat Attack

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An Ames Police officer was pulled over by an Ames woman July 20, so that she could report that her boyfriend had just been struck by a baseball bat, according to complaints.

The officer was on patrol when a woman driving a car waved to get the officer's attention. The officer stopped and noticed that a 32-year-old man, also a passenger in the car, had a large bump and a cut on his head, complaints said. He told the officer that he went to a Hy-Vee gas station parking area to talk to a man who goes by the name of “Junior” about a stolen cell phone, complaints said. But Junior hit him in the head with the end of a baseball bat three times so the 32-year-old left, complaints said.

Police later identified “Junior” as 56-year-old James R. Walden. Walden told police that he hit the man with his fists and “tagged” him multiple times, complaints said. However Walden denied using a bat as a weapon. He said that he acquired the bat during the fight, but didn't use it, complaints said.

Walden was charged with assault with injury, an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in prison.

Walden was listed as an inmate in the Story County Jail Thursday on a $10,000 bond.