A Corte Madera man was arrested twice in eight hours Thursday on allegations he attacked a paralyzed, wheelchair-bound housemate.
The alleged incidents were reported at a residence on Corte Madera Avenue, where the 49-year-old paralyzed man rented part of the home from John Jeffrey O’Connor, police said.
At 4 a.m., the men got into an argument, and the wheelchair-bound man was allegedly punched in the mouth, said Central Marin police Sgt. Hamid Khalili.
Police, seeing swelling around the man’s mouth, booked O’Connor on suspicion of battery against a dependent adult.
O’Connor, 46, was released on bail, returned home and called police to ask them to stand by while he evicted the tenant. The tenant told police he arranged a ride to leave at 2 p.m., but would not leave before then. O’Connor told police he would not leave the home in the interim.
With no authority to ask either man to leave the residence, police departed, Khalili said.
Minutes later, the man in the wheelchair called police to report than O’Connor assaulted him by shoving a box of macaroni and cheese in his face. Police arrived and found a damaged box of macaroni and cheese that appeared to support the allegations.
O’Connor was booked into jail again on suspicion of cruelty to a dependent adult likely to cause great bodily injury and committing a felony while free on bail.
Police also booked him on suspicion of possessing a drug without a prescription, for unidentified pills found in a silver cylindrical container.
O’Connor’s bail was set at $25,000.
The alleged victim, who is paralyzed from the waist down, moved out as planned at 2 p.m.
Contact Gary Klien via email at gklien@marinij.com or https://twitter.com/GaryKlien