A 70-year-old Cheyenne man says he was trying to slow down a kid on a bicycle tearing through a park when police say the situation spiraled into a bizarre intergenerational fistfight that left both the grandfather and 12-year-old boy with black eyes.
Now, the older man is facing a felony charge of child abuse, according to court documents made available Wednesday.
The charging documents filed in Laramie County Circuit Court on Glenn Patterson, 70, outline allegations he punched the boy in the face during a Monday altercation at a Cheyenne park after the boy reportedly called him a “faggot.”
The whole thing unfolded just before 8 p.m. on what might have otherwise been a normal evening at the park. Court documents don’t say which in Cheyenne park the confrontation went down.
Instead, it turned into an angry grandfather throwing hands with a sixth-grader.
Going Too Fast
Patterson told police he confronted the boy because he believed the child was riding his bicycle dangerously fast around other kids through the park, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.
Patterson said he didn’t know the child personally and wasn’t responsible for him, but felt compelled to say something because of safety concerns, the affidavit says.
That’s when things allegedly went sideways.
Patterson told officers the boy responded to his admonishment about riding too fast by calling him a “faggot.”
The 70-year-old then admitted to grabbing the boy by the helmet and lifting him off the bicycle, the affidavit says. Witnesses agreed that in the ensuing scuffle, both the man and boy were punched in the face.
Patterson told police the child “sucker-punched” him in the face from behind, leaving him with a swollen black eye and a cut on his nose.
Police noted “a large, swollen black eye” and a “small laceration” on Patterson’s face.
But witnesses — including Patterson’s granddaughter — reportedly told investigators that Patterson initiated the physical contact by grabbing the child first.
According to the affidavit, the granddaughter said she watched the boy punch her grandfather after being grabbed, and then watched Patterson punch the boy back in the face.
Another witness reportedly corroborated that version of events.
The 12-year-old told police he only hit Patterson because the older man refused to let go of him. Then, Patterson punched him in the face hard enough to leave bruising around his eye.
Officers documented the injuries on the child as well.
By the end of the encounter, police say both combatants — separated by roughly 58 years of age — were left with black eyes.
Grandpa Charged
A warrant for Patterson’s arrest was issued Tuesday.
He was formally charged with felony child abuse, according to the Laramie County Detention Center.
Under Wyoming law, the charge carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Patterson will next appear in about 10 days for a preliminary hearing for the courts to decide if there is enough evidence to move the case to District Court.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
