Two Douglas men were arrested on surprisingly minor charges after Douglas police officers responded to a report of a knife fight in the Tractor Supply parking lot just before 9 p.m. on August 27, 2024. The investigation took a couple of twists and turns; when the dust settled, two of the three individuals involved were taken into custody on rather benign charges.
The initial report came in that there was a knife fight at Tractor Supply. An officer responded and found an individual named Justin Walker (real name – Stephen Walker) advancing toward Robert Mata with a metal pipe, according to an incident report from the police department. The officer told Walker to put down the pipe. Then, because, as the report says, Walker was very confrontational, the officer detained him while he figured out what was going on.
Mata stated that Walker had sold him a stolen phone that belonged to Walter Earl King. The report says that Mata verified the phone was stolen by calling a contact in the phone who placed him in contact with King. Mata and King decided to switch phones because King wanted his number back, the report says. In the meantime, Mata was having trouble with his motorcycle and was walking from Tractor Supply to Walmart to buy oil when Walker approached him wanting the phone back, the report says. In the report, Mata said that Walker had a weapon and was swinging it at him. Mata then pulled out a knife but, the report says, he tried to walk away. Walker kept coming at him, according to the report. Mata eventually dropped the knife on the ground and the officer recovered it.
The officer then spoke with Walker who said that Mata had come up with a plot to rob King of money and his phone. Walker stated that he tried to back out of the plan. Mata was the one who approached him with a weapon, the report says, because Mata thought Walker was going to report him. The officer called King and, the report says, King stated that he didn’t who stole his phone but Mata had reached out to him and tried to return the phone. King said they reached an agreement to swap phones. He added that he didn’t know a Justin Walker but he did know someone named Stephen Walker.
According to the report, neither party wanted to press charges. However, King was arrested on a probation violation and Walker was arrested for allegedly giving false name and information to police. Both were released.