68-year-old man punches officer over car being towed in California, police say

A man was arrested after he was accused of attacking an officer over a car being towed, California police said.

On May 20, a Santa Rosa officer was “conducting patrols in a parking lot” when he identified a car with a registration that expired six years ago, according to a May 21 Facebook post by the city’s police department.

The officer had been working with the owner to renew the registration but after learning it was still expired, he issued a tow, police said.

When the tow truck arrived and the officer started preparing the paper work, an “uninvolved man” started “aggressively approaching” the cop, police said. He was identified by police as Michael Prater, 68.

That’s when police said Prater hit the officer on both sides of his face and punched him in the head.

The officer was able to push Prater away, which caused him to fall to the ground, police said.

Eventually, the officer arrested Prater, and he was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on charges of threatening an executive officer and battery on a peace officer, police said.

Santa Rosa is about a 50-mile drive northwest from San Francisco.

This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 1:01 PM with the headline "68-year-old man punches officer over car being towed in California, police say."