DICKSON, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police have arrested a man accused of attacking an 84-year-old Navy veteran outside an East Nashville gas station.
MNPD TITANS detectives, with assistance from the Dickson Police Department, arrested Donald Wayne Oliver Jr., 40, in Dickson.
Oliver was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant charging him with felony aggravated assault for allegedly punching and injuring Dallas Mathis.
Mathis was sitting in his SUV at a Shelby Avenue gas station on June 24 when a stranger approached and repeatedly punched him in the face.
“I said, ‘I don’t mean you no harm.’ That’s when he hit me,” Mathis previously told NewsChannel 5.
Police said Mathis had driven his granddaughter to the gas station to meet someone. Investigators said she approached a four-door sedan before an argument broke out over money she allegedly owed. Part of the assault was captured on surveillance video.
Mathis suffered multiple facial fractures and required surgery, according to his family.
The arrest comes after police released surveillance images of the suspect and asked the public for help identifying him.
Mathis' family has started a GoFundMe to help cover medical expenses and has nearly reached their goal.
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