The mayor of this northern Colorado city has a temporary restraining order against him after he was accused of throwing a 15-year-old boy to the ground when the teen refused to stop riding a motorbike.
Mayor Ed Clark, who must stay at least 100 yards away from the boy, told the Greeley Tribune he stopped the boy for his own safety and did not hurt him. He said he will fight the restraining order during a July 7 hearing.
The boy's father, Tim Stitt, plans to ask the judge to make the restraining order permanent.
Stitt said Clark forced the boy to the ground on Monday and then held him there until police arrived. Police ticketed the boy for driving without a license.
The father said Clark should be charged with assault.
Greeley police spokeswoman Joe Tymkowych said Wednesday an investigation was ongoing.
Stitt said his son and Clark have been at odds for weeks after his son had a dispute with the mayor's wife. Stitt said Clark confronted his son at a basketball court and told him "bad things are going to happen" if he didn't stop showing disrespect to his wife.
Clark is a former police officer who works as a security director at a charter school and recently took a part-time job as an investigator with the Weld County district attorney's office. He did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press Wednesday.