Antioch, TN - The last time Joe Cooper and Frank Dean saw each other was their high school graduation in 1974. They got into a fistfight that day over a parking spot and were threatened with arrest if they did not leave the ceremony immediately. Both men moved to other states just hours later, never to see each other again...until today.
This morning, 45 years after their graduation brawl, the two high school enemies ran into each other in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly on Nolensville Road. They both were trying to pull into the same spot and heated words were exchanged. It was then that they realized who they were arguing with and they picked up right where they left off back in 1974.
The fight, which began in the parking lot, spilled into the wine aisle as customers tried to get out of the way. The police were called and both men were arrested in the produce aisle minutes later.
Cooper told reporters from the back of an ambulance, "You know, it's been 45 years since I've seen him, but it was like no time has passed at all. The hate came back immediately."
Dean shared a similar sentiment from the back of a police cruiser, "I realized the moment I saw him that I hate him as much today as I did way back then. And the moment I punched him in the face, we instantly reconnected."
Both men are currently at the Antioch police station awaiting booking.
It is still unclear why neither man was wearing a shirt.