On Sunday, July 23 at approximately 4 p.m., Oakdale Police responded to the 8000 block of North Crane Road in regards to a reported fight involving weapons.

A witness reported a male driver struck a male bicyclist with his Ford F150 and then exited his truck with a bat and began yelling at the bicyclist in the parking lot in the 1200 block of West F Street.

When the witness told the driver the police were called, the driver fled the area in his Ford F150. The witness followed the pickup until he stopped on North Crane Road.

Officers contacted Joseph Peter Gill III, 41, of Oakdale as the driver of the pickup who was later arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery.

Gill advised police he believed the bicyclist was responsible for stealing a bicycle from him on a prior occasion. The bicycle recovered from the scene of the assault as evidence did not match Gill’s prior stolen bicycle. The bicyclist sustained pain to his left ankle as a result of the incident and was transported to a local area hospital for treatment.

Police are reminding citizens to call 911 when encountering and before pursuing suspicious activity and maintain a safe distance while relaying their observations to responding police officers.