Parking incident escalates for felony assault charge

DUNCAN — An incident that began with hitting another vehicle with a car door at a Duncan medical marijuana dispensary parking lot turned ugly with allegations of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Dustin Frank Price, 46, of Duncan, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Stephens County District Court where he received a felony charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Duncan Police Officer Christopher Barry stated he was called to Big Chief Collective, 1208 N. U.S. 81 shortly after 2:30 p.m. Monday and arrived to find Price and two other men in a heated verbal argument. Price was placed into custody for being uncooperative and continuing to escalate the situation, the probable cause affidavit states. He had a cut to his bottom lip.

Price said the two other men confronted him about his parking and that they were “very, very aggressive” and one of the men had hit him after a confrontation, Barry stated. When asked if he’d hit someone with his vehicle while exiting the space, he said he was unsure and “I may have,” the affidavit states.

The men said Price had been aggressive from the beginning. One man said Price ran over his foot while trying to leave before exiting his Dodge Caliber and confronting the other man, according to the affidavit. He said Price shoved the other man who retaliated by punching Price in the mouth.

Security video showed Price open his door into the other vehicle and when one of the men exited the store, he began looking for damage, Barry stated. He confronted Price who began to reverse out of the parking space and ran over the man’s left foot before stopping briefly on it, the affidavit states. The man retaliated by punching the driver’s side front windshield before falling to his knees in front of the Dodge, according to Barry.

Price got out of the car and the other man got out of the parked vehicle and a verbal confrontation escalated when Price swung and hit Rodriguez; the man retaliated with several punches to Price and the first man got in between them and deescalated the physicality, according to the affidavit.

Price is out on $25,000 bond and is to have no contact with the other men. He returns to court at 9 a.m. Dec. 18 for a preliminary hearing conference.