MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG)– A man is accused of threatening another man with a machete during a fight over a pair of sunglasses found on a sidewalk in an East Memphis neighborhood.
Joseph Barger, 42, is now facing charges of aggravated robbery.
The victim told police he was walking along Willow Road Wednesday for exercise when saw his sunglasses that he lost earlier in the day on the sidewalk.
The victim said when he reached down to pick them up, Barger approached him and told him to hand over the sunglasses because they belonged to him.
The victim said he refused, and that’s when Barger became angry and pulled a machete out of the shopping cart he was pushing.
Police said the weapon put the victim in fear for his life, and he gave Barger the sunglasses.
When police got to the scene, they were able to detain Barger and said they found the machete described by the victim in Barger’s shopping cart.
Investigators said Barger told them he was the one who lost the sunglasses and that he never pulled out a blade.