Charges filed in road-rage incident

A 19-year-old man faces two aggravated assault charges after a weekend road rage incident that ended with an altercation in a Lawrence parking lot.

Prosecutors on Monday filed the two felony charges against Edward Eugene Swanson Jr., of rural Lawrence, said David Melton, a chief assistant Douglas County district attorney. Prosecutors allege Swanson assaulted two people with a baseball bat late Saturday night.

After a road-rage incident south of Lawrence, police said, two groups of people were involved in an altercation in a parking lot outside IHOP, 3102 Iowa, late Saturday. Neither victim in the case had to be taken to the hospital, police said.

A second 19-year-old male suspect was arrested on charges of obstruction and battery after he fled the scene. He was found four blocks away after a foot chase. Prosecutors had not yet filed charges against the second suspect by late Monday afternoon.

Swanson pleaded not guilty to the two charges on Monday, and his bond was set at $10,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 14.