Lynn man arrested, another injured in scuffle

LYNN – Lynn Police arrested a 66-year-old man Thursday morning and charged him with assault and battery with a knife following a confrontation on Market Street between him and a motorist.Police responded around 8:30 a.m. to Market Street after receiving numerous reports of a man chasing another man with a crowbar.Brian James O?Donnell, 42, told police he was following his wife?s car in his own car on their way to Brothers Deli when Jose Luis Perez, of 208 Washington St., walked in front of his wife?s car, and then began yelling at her, according to a Lynn Police incident report. The woman said she started to go, but stopped to let Perez cross.Witnesses outside Brothers Deli recalled seeing the two men arguing in the street. One witness said he saw Perez “waving a knife like Zorro” at the other man, who then chased Perez toward Broad Street, according to the arrest report.O?Donnell received a laceration in his torso from the knife during the scuffle.Perez and O?Donnell both went to the Lynn Police Department, where Perez told a Spanish-speaking officer that while he was crossing Market Street he felt like he was about to be hit by the car driven by O?Donnell?s wife, according to the report. He said he felt threatened when O?Donnell then got out of his car with a crowbar, and took out the knife to defend himself.He admitted to tossing the knife into a parking lot on his way to the police station, the report said.Lynn District Court Judge Stacey Fortes-White ordered Perez released on personal recognizance during his arraignment, and set a pre-trial hearing date for June 19.O?Donnell?s slice wound did not require medical attention, police said.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].