Witnesses say a Lyons man threw a punch

A Lyons man claimed another man had knocked his hat off, pushed, punched and kicked him. Witnesses said otherwise.

Brandon A. Criss, 32, of Lyons, told one story when Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Harvey Holt responded to an altercation in Lyons in late November, but another man and two witnesses told a different story.

Deputy Holt was dispatched around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 27, to a residence on Meridian Street in Lyons after a woman called and said her boyfriend, Brandon Criss, had been battered.

When Holt arrived, Criss claimed he’d been kicked in the ribs by another man who pushed him, knocked his hat off, punched him in the head and kicked him while he was on the ground. Criss said he had swung at the man one time but missed.

When Holt talked to the alleged perpetrator, he said he went to Criss’s residence about Criss knocking on the man’s windows and during an argument, Criss threw a single punch that grazed him on the chest and caught his lip. Holt reported the man did suffer some swelling to his lip and it did cause pain.

Holt also talked to a couple of witnesses. Both said they had seen Criss throw one punch at the man.

The man Criss accused was interviewed a second time, the following day, by GCSD Sgt. Bobby Pierce.

Information about the incident was submitted to the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office.

A preliminary charge of battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor was filed against Criss and a criminal summons was issued ordering him to appear for an initial hearing in Greene Superior Court in early January.