MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Friday night, a Murfreesboro road rage case ended with assault charges after what started as a fender bender evolved into a fight involving a metal pipe and a weed eater.
“We will go to bat for you and we will take out your weeds, too,” John Michael Green laughed.
It could easily be a new slogan for his company Green Pasture Lawn & Landscapes.
“This whole incident took place during one red light,” his colleague Jonathan Osborn explained.
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It was rush hour Friday night when the two landscapers had just finished a job.
“We were rolling up to the intersection of Memorial and Clark right here,” they said.
That’s where Murfreesboro police say a driver attempting to merge sideswiped a car that Cheick Kafando was driving. Kafando, upset, reportedly began attacking the driver behind the wheel, eventually pulling a metal pipe from his trunk.
“He went to the victim’s car and he was yelling at the window and raising and swinging the pipe aggressively,” said Osborne, “I leaned out at that point and I said, ‘Hey, get back in your car it’s not worth it, get back in your car.’ He then diverted his attention to us and started walking towards the truck towards us aggressively. That’s when both of us got out.”
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They were hoping their presence would scare off Kafando, but instead, they became his target.
“I got out and I was looking for some hand tools that we have back here, but all we had was the wheelbarrow, backpack blower and my weed eater, so I pulled it out. The switch was off actually and I was standing there and just trying to start it and trying to get him back with it by hitting his feet with it and that’s when he charged me with the lead pipe,” said Green.
The weed eater didn’t work, and a fight broke out. The men say Kafando ended up punching both of them.
“Got me a good one right underneath the eye,” said Osborn.
Kafando then took off, but the lawncare company and several others followed him into a nearby parking lot.
“As soon as we pulled in, I blocked the guy in,” stated Green, saying police followed and arrested Kafando.
Today, many praises the lawn crew for stepping in as good Samaritans.
“I would hope somebody would do that for me if I was in that situation. Just do good to other people,” Green shrugged.
It’s a situation they realize could have ended much differently.
“God was definitely watching over us that day.”
Kafando was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, burglary, and vandalism.