A Freeland man is accused of stealing a pickup from a parking lot at Hong Kong Gardens and then beating up the owner who tried to retrieve it, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Melinton Minera-Lopez in Island County Superior Court Oct. 19 with assault in the second degree and taking a motor vehicle without permission in the second degree.

On Oct. 8, a resident reported to police that he was at the bar when a man named “Meli,” later identified as Minera-Lopez, took his keys, got into his white Chevrolet truck and drove off, according to a report by a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

The man said a friend gave him a ride and they followed the truck to an address in the area of Harbor Sands Lane. But once the owner got there, he was allegedly assaulted by Minera-Lopez and two other men, the report states. The man suffered a broken jaw that requires surgery.

Deputies retrieved the blood-speckled truck, which was left parked in a South Whidbey roadway.