Officers responded to an altercation that occurred during a custody exchange in Linton in late January and now one man is facing a charge of battery.

A summons has been issued to Samuel W. Rego, 22, Lyons, ordering him to appear in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on a preliminary charge of battery, a Class B misdemeanor.

Officer Janzen Franklin of the Linton Police Department, the lead investigator, and LPD Officer John Agan were dispatched at 7:14 p.m. on Sunday, January 24, to a gas station in Linton where a battery had been reported.

When they arrived, a woman said she was there with her boyfriend for a child custody exchange with her ex-boyfriend, Samuel Rego, involving their young child. She said when she approached Rego’s vehicle to pick up her child and a duffle bag, Rego started yelling at her then hit her with the duffle bag. She said Rego sat the child and the duffle bag on the ground and then went to her boyfriend’s vehicle and got into an altercation with her boyfriend.

Rego allegedly grabbed an open energy drink and threw it at the boyfriend, hitting him on the cheek just under his eye.

When Rego was later interviewed at the police department, he said he threw the duffle bag down on the ground and admitted he did go to the boyfriend’s vehicle and got into a verbal altercation. He allegedly admitted he picked up the open energy drink and threw the contents of the can at the boyfriend.

Officer Franklin noted Rego has a prior conviction for domestic battery in Daviess County in 2018.

Information was submitted to the prosecutor’s office and this week a criminal case was filed against Rego.