photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

A Lawrence man has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly using a machete during an altercation with another person over a moped.

The man, William Lawrence Abernathy, 60, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of aggravated assault “using a machete or large knife” and one misdemeanor count of battery, according to charging documents.

The charges are in connection with an incident on Monday around 7:30 p.m. when police responded to a report of a disturbance with weapons in the 2400 block of Melrose Lane and detained the suspect at gunpoint, said Sgt. Drew Fennelly with the Lawrence Police Department.

A 32-year-old man had come to the area to retrieve a moped that he believed he had purchased legally from a woman, but the moped actually belonged to the suspect, Fennelly said. When the man arrived to retrieve the moped, he was allegedly struck by multiple BBs before the suspect, later identified as Abernathy, confronted him.

The suspect then brandished a machete, tried to strike the 32-year-old man and followed him to a nearby gas station. Bystanders at the gas station intervened and disarmed the suspect, Fennelly said. The suspect then drew his BB gun and threatened multiple people before he returned to the 2400 block of Melrose, where police made contact with him and arrested him.

The 32-year-old reported no serious injuries from the BB gun or the machete, Fennelly said.

Abernathy was booked into the Douglas County Jail and was released Tuesday on a $5,000 own-recognizance bond, meaning he was not required to pay any money to be released. Abernathy’s next court date was not immediately available in Douglas County Court records.