Police: Doormat dispute led to neighbor attack

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- A dispute between neighbors about ownership of a doormat led to a woman's arrest on an assault charge, police in Iowa said.

Des Moines police said the neighbors, two women who live across from one another at a Des Moines apartment complex, have been engaged in a feud regarding a doormat the victim told officers belongs to her but keeps getting moved to the apartment occupied by Dana Allen, 40, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register reported Thursday.

The neighbors encountered one another in the hallway Tuesday while accompanied by their boyfriends and during the meeting Allen allegedly blocked the other woman's attempt to get into her own apartment, police said. The victim bumped Allen while trying to get by her, leading Allen to allegedly throw her fountain drink at the other woman, knock her to the ground and punch her six to 10 times in the face and head.

The victim suffered abrasions and bleeding from her lip, cheek, nose and forehead, police said.

Allen was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail on a charge of assault.