By JIM HICKEY

Three Island men were arrested and charged with assault and battery after they reportedly attacked a man with wooden stick last week while trying to collect a debt.

Shane A. Harthcock, 29, of Oak Bluffs and Tyler Dunnebier, 25 of Vineyard Haven were both charged with assault and battery and assault and battery to collect a loan. Stephen Allen Flodstrom, 55, of Oak Bluffs, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a stick) and assault and battery to collect a loan. Mr. Dunnebier was also charged with carrying a dangerous weapon after police found a spring-loaded knife with a blade over 1.5 inches.

All three were arraigned in Edgartown district court on Tuesday, and the cases were continued until a pretrial conference at a later date.

According to the police incident report, several eyewitnesses approached an Oak Bluffs police officer on Circuit avenue last Friday just after midnight to report they saw three men pull someone off a bike near the basketball court off of Nashawena avenue. Sgt. Michael Marchand and another officer went to the area, but found nothing.

An hour later the victim called the communications center, and later spoke with officer Jeff Trudel. The victim said he was riding his bike in the area of Uncas avenue when Mr. Flodstrom stepped out of the shadows with a wooden stick in his hand. Mr. Harthcock and Mr. Dunnebier were also present.

The victim told police he owed Mr. Flodstrom approximately $200 from a past $500 loan. The victim told police that Mr. Flodstrom started to swing the stick and demand that he pay back the money he owed, while Mr. Harthcock and Mr. Dunnebier grabbed his bike. The victim then fled the area and Mr. Dunnebier and Mr. Harthcock chased after him.

Near a house on the corner of Circuit avenue and Grant Lane, the victim stopped running and pulled a wooden picket off a fence to protect himself. The three men then arrived and also pulled pickets off the fence, beating him with the sticks until he again fled the area.