Senior Citizen Arrested For Allegedly Chasing Victim Down With Tractor

Cellphone video of a 72-year-old man from St. Augustine, Florida, can be seen all over the internet for anyone to gawk at. Said footage, coupled with calls to local authorities, led to his arrest. The accused, Howell Lamar Morris, was arrested by the sheriff’s department on June 19, 2018, after an alarming 911 call came in reporting the incident. Morris is claimed to be the man riding the tractor, chasing down another gentleman, Scott Lynch, cites OrlandoSentinel.

Lynch’s wife captured the video and made two separate calls to the police department. In the 911 call to authorities, Mrs. Lynch explained the occurrence, and when asked by the operator if her husband’s attacker had a weapon, Scott Lynch can be heard in the background saying, “Other than his tractor? No.” Indeed, Lynch is seen in the video running and yelling back at his attacker, who is plowing forward as fast as his tractor will allow, appearing to be gunning for Lynch down the narrow roadway. Top speed for most tractors averages at 20 to 25 miles per hour, although Guinness World Records has stated a tractor once hit 80.

“Yeah, he chased him down on his tractor and my husband had to run, yes.”

According to Mrs. Lynch, upon her first call into the police, she stated that the altercation happened due to a property dispute. Upon his arrest, Morris was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill for allegedly chasing down Scott Lynch. If he is fully charged, that would result in a third-degree felony. The video of Lynch’s attack is available, having been released and shared online by the State Attorney’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department.

The kerfuffle between these two neighbors climaxed at Richard Glen Drive, in St. Augustine. A report on the incident states that Morris entered the Lynch property, intent on not stopping the tractor even as Scott Lynch had stopped running away from the giant piece of machinery, explains the Miami Herald.

“The (Morris) entered onto the victim’s property and chased the victim down his driveway with a tractor. The victim stated he was in fear of his life and believes if he would have stopped running from the tractor, (Morris) would not have stopped and would have run him over.”

News 4 Jax shared pieces of the 911 call, where Mrs. Lynch describes why she believes Morris to be allegedly assaulting her husband.

Dispatcher: “OK, so he’s vandalizing your property?”
Caller: “Yeah. It’s our property. It’s our easement. He thinks he has right to it, but he’s destroying stuff on it and blocking our driveway.”

Since his arrest, jail records show that Morris has been let out from lockup with a $2,500 bond. Statement from Howell Lamar Morris has not been released, and there seems to be no further information at this time.