By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A 67-year-old Alabaster man has been indicted on a felony assault charge after he allegedly used a “miniature souvenir baseball bat” to strike his neighbor during a New Year’s Day dispute.

On May 13, a Shelby County grand jury returned a one-count indictment on Alabaster resident Fred McLendon Bohannon claiming the suspect “did cause serious physical injury” to his neighbor using the miniature bat on Jan. 1.

Bohannon faces one charge of first-degree assault, a Class B felony. If convicted of the crime, Bohannon could face up to 20 years in prison.

Bohannon is scheduled to appear in the Shelby County Courthouse on July 7 to be arraigned on the charge.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Bohannon at about 2:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day and charged him with one felony count of first-degree assault. The arrest came after Bohannon allegedly used the miniature baseball bat to assault his neighbor after the two were involved in an argument over property lines, Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney said previously.

Rigney said the victim in the case suffered “severe” injuries, leading to the first-degree assault charge.

According to court records, Bohannon was released from the Shelby County Jail on a $10,000 bond the day after he was arrested.

According to Alabama law, first-degree assault occurs when a person “with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person … causes serious physical injury to any person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.”