Someone called 911 just after 2 p.m. and told dispatchers to “send someone now. They’ve got guns!” When officers arrived in the 1500 block of Flemming at 2:08 p.m., they found Liput, who had a bleeding wound on top of his head, coming out of a home with a gun in his hand, according to the police report.
Officers ordered Liput to put down the weapon and he immediately complied, the report states.
Liput told police he got into an altercation with his neighbors over a truck they had parked in a shared alley that was blocking traffic. He said he was attempting to back his car out of the driveway and had asked if Leturgez and the Shorts would move the vehicle, according to the report.
However, Liput said the men refused to move the truck, telling him to wait until they finished moving some items out of Kaleb Short’s house. That’s when the fight ensued, he told police in the report.
Liput told officers he was surrounded by four to five men who punched and kicked him, as well as struck him with a bat and hit him in the head with a cane. According to the report, Liput told police he was able to take an ax handle away from one of his attackers and used it to strike back.
Leturgez and the Shorts all had head injuries, too, according to the police report. All four men were taken to Atrium Medical Center for treatment following the altercation.
David Short, however, painted Liput as the aggressor, saying he “sped recklessly into his driveway, grabbed an ax handle and went into the alley” where he struck the three men. According to the report, David Short admitted to hitting Liput in the head with a cane, which broke on impact, but only in self-defense.
Leturgez also told police that Liput was the first to strike out violently.
Kaleb Short said Liput was shouting obscenities at his family, which he did not appreciate, according to the report. He said Liput sped away in his car, but came back a short time later with an ax handle. Kaleb Short told police he took his shirt off and challenged Liput before going back into the house to finish moving. After he went inside, Short said the melee started with Liput striking David Short and Leturgez, the report said.
Police found the broken cane and ax handle in the back of the truck. Both weapons and Liput’s guns were confiscated by police; the gun had a 30-day hold placed on it, according to the report.
Middletown police Maj. Mark Hoffman said there were no witnesses to the start of the fight, but people were present after the melee began. The street brawl prompted nine officers and two ambulances to respond to the scene. A medical helicopter was also placed on alert, Hoffman said.
Shaila Leturgez said her family and Liput have had an ongoing feud for some time. She said they have clashed over things including the neighbor’s dog and those disputes have required police to come out several times in the past.
“We were trying to move before it escalated into a fight,” she said.
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