A Linton man is facing criminal charges after a citizen allegedly caught him puncturing tires in a parking lot and tackled him then held the suspect to the ground until police arrived.

Justin Curtis May, 37, Linton, was arrested last Thursday evening following an incident at the Linton VFW Post located on South Main Street.

A call came in to dispatch at the Linton Police Department around 6:16 p.m. from the bartender at the VFW, Gina White, who said there was an active fight going on in the parking lot.

Linton Police Officers Joe Riley and Debbie McDonald responded.

While they were enroute, dispatch got another call from a woman, Tammy James, who said one of the men in the fight had sliced the tires on her vehicle as well as the tires on the bartender’s vehicle. She said her husband was holding the suspect on the ground.

When the officers arrived, the two women were standing near the citizen, Roger James, 54, who was holding down the suspect identified as Justin May.

Officer Riley, the investigating officer, said James had suffered a laceration on one side of his face and a raised bump above an eye during the altercation.

Officer Riley said James told him that May had come into the bar about an hour earlier, visibly intoxicated. He said May was served one drink and then the bartender cut him off and May got angry. After May was refused service, he exchanged words with the bartender then stormed out.

According to Riley, James said he thought he’d go outside and check to make sure May wasn’t giving anyone else any problems outside but when he got out there, he saw May walking away from the bartender’s car then walk over to the James car where he began to puncture tires with a small folding pocket knife.

James allegedly said he confronted May and tried to get him to stop puncturing the tires, but May hit him in the face two times, so, James tackled May and held him on the ground.

Officer Riley reported all four tires on the White vehicle had been punctured and were flat, and two tires on the driver’s side of the James vehicle had been punctured and were flat.

May was first transported to the Linton Police Department for an interview then transported to the Greene County Jail where he was booked in at 7:37 p.m. with bond was set at $2,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

May has since posted $200 cash to bond out of jail.

He’s facing preliminary charges of battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor, and two counts of criminal mischief, both as Class B misdemeanors. He’s scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court for his initial hearing late in November.

Court records indicate May also has two other criminal cases pending against him.