Machete, baseball bat attack linked to eBay sale

MOORHEAD - An incident Monday night that ended with a Bemidji man being carted off to jail on suspicion of attacking another man with a machete and a baseball bat started with a dispute over an eBay fee, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

The suspected attacker, Michael Coleman Brown, 44, was upset over the results of a sale on eBay of about 90 Zippo lighters, according to court documents.

The victim sold the lighters on the website on Brown's behalf, getting about $900 for them. The victim told police Brown was unhappy that eBay charged a $106 fee.

As Brown was driving the victim around Monday looking for an ATM after the victim offered to pay him half the money, he became more and more agitated, the victim told police. Brown suddenly stopped the car at the Walgreens in the 800 block of Main Avenue and chased the victim out of the car with a machete and baseball bat, the victim told police.

That was where police, who were dispatched to a disturbance call in the area, found Brown, who appeared to be "upset," according to court documents. He had a hammer in one hand and a machete in the other.

A Moorhead officer told Brown to drop the machete and hammer. Brown, who was pacing back and forth in an "aggressive" manner, removed his shirt, threw it on the ground and advanced on the officer, who had his handgun drawn, court documents say.

Brown eventually complied with orders to get on the ground, and officers interviewed the nearby victim.

The victim told police he tried to back away from Brown but lost consciousness. He said he believed Brown had hit him with the baseball bat.

The victim had a scrape across his neck that no longer was bleeding and which appeared consistent with a machete injury, court documents say. He didn't recall being struck with the machete, and showed signs of intoxication, court documents say.

A bat was found during a search of Brown's car, court documents say.

Brown was charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, both felonies. Brown's bail was set at $50,000 with conditions including no contact with the victim, or $100,000 without conditions.

His next court appearance is set for Sept. 8.