PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A man was arrested on Sunday after deputies say he punched an elderly man who asked him to stop using foul language inside a Port Orange Applebee's.
Police said Mikie Dominic Sawyer, 26, was talking obscenities at the bar at the Dunlawton Avenue Applebees just before 80-year-old Harry Sander approached him and asked him politely to stop using the "F" word, and to stop talking so (in expletives) and loudly about body parts.
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Sanders told police Sawyer said he didn't have to stop cursing if he didn't want to before punching Sanders in the face and pushing him to the ground.
A witness to the disturbance told police he also heard Sawyer cursing loudly and reiterated to police how Sanders had described the incident.
The witness said after Sanders asked Sawyer to stop, Sawyer told him, "I don't care where you are from, whether it be Russian or Dutch, take your (expletive) to the other side of the bar," before punching him.
Police said several other witnesses described the incident similarly. However, one man said he thought Sanders may have also pushed Sawyer.
Sawyer left the restaurant before police arrived, but was later pulled over after police got a description of his vehicle.
Sawyer told police that Sander was the one who actually punched him, but a police report stated that while Sawyer had no bruising to his face, he did have discoloration and bruising to his knuckles and fingers.
Police arrested Sawyer and was charged with battery on a person over 65 years of age and disorderly conduct.
Sawyer was taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he is being held on a $2,500 bond.