Sparta man arrested after golf game goes bad

SPARTA – A township resident is facing an assault by auto charge after a golf game went bad and police were called.

At 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, Officer Rick Smith was dispatched to the Skyview Golf Club on Lafayette Road after police got a report about “five intoxicated golfers refusing to leave the course” after management asked them to leave, police said.

Smith got to the course and was told that four of the individuals had already left but that one, Keith E. Peterson, 57, of Sparta, had gotten into his vehicle in the parking lot and had a confrontation with the golf club employee that had tried to remove him from the course, police said.

The employee was parked in a golf cart awaiting the arrival of police when Peterson confronted him and an argument ensued, police said

The employee said that Peterson accelerated his truck and struck the golf cart causing the employee to be thrown from the cart and sustain a minor injury, police said.

Peterson then fled the scene but the license plate of his truck was obtained by a witness so police went to Peterson’s home, police said.

At the residence, Peterson admitted to striking the golf cart but said he didn’t think it was a motor vehicle accident that needed to be reported, police said.

When officers advised Peterson that he was under arrest, he attempted to flee back into his home, police said.

Officers subdued him and and took him to police headquarters where he was charged with assault by auto and resisting arrest and given motor vehicle summonses for reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and improper parking. He was released after being given a pending court date.

The injured golf club employee refused medical treatment, police said.