Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

HIAWATHA TOWNSHIP -- Bumps, bruises, and broken bones. That's what two men in Hiawatha Township are dealing with after a neighborhood dispute turned violent.

At the beginning of the month, 64-year-old Larry Kouw and 83-year-old Richard Hughson got into a physical fight, leaving Kouw with scratches and bruises and Hughson with a broken ankle.

"I want him to be put in jail, where he belongs," said Hughson.

And Kouw wants Hughson gone.

"[I want] him to move out. To move out," said Kouw.

It all started up again when Hughson saw Kouw's daughters tearing down his fence. Kouw said he did tell his daughters to tear their neighbor's fence down because he says Hughson pulled his bushes out from the ground.

"He started grabbing me, clawing me. He grabbed me on my wrist, tried ripping my eyes out. Big scratches on my back," Kouw said.

"The girls pushed me down, and that's how I got my leg broke and the concussion and all the other stuff. They assaulted us," Hughson said.

In past years, Kouw claims Hughson crept around the neighborhood, taking pictures of his daughters. That prompted Kouw to put a sign right behind Hughson's house, saying that his neighbor is a pervert, clear for anyone driving by to see.

"It was nothing like that. Nothing at all. If I was taking pictures, it'd be evidence pictures because they were trespassing or something," Hughson said.

That sign is now gone, but it's been replaced with "decorations" that Hughson doesn't approve of, including stuffed animals, "keep out" signs, and American flags.

"I put flags up there. Nice flags. You can probably see them from here. Nice American flags. With a little animal on the end of them. Is there something wrong with putting a nice American flag up?" Kouw said.

The Michigan State Police Post in Manistique say that over the past three years, they've received over 30 calls from the neighbors complaining about one another.

"We are conducting a very thorough investigation, and we're confident that we will find a proper resolution to this case and the ongoing trouble between the two parties."

After their latest backyard brawl, Hughson requested a personal protection order against Kouw that forbids him from entering his property and talking to him.

The two men say they won't be satisfied until the other one moves. Hughson recently put his house up for sale because he says he can't stand living so close to Kouw.

The Michigan State Police say they've sent a police report to the Schoolcraft County prosecuting attorney.