Tarpon Springs neighbor gets slugged for petting dog, police say

TARPON SPRINGS — Relations in the neighborhood were already strained when Michelle Sieber argued with her 69-year-old neighbor just before 7 a.m. Monday about the noise the night before, according to police.

Then Sieber's dog got out. The neighbor petted the Great Dane. Sieber warned him not to touch her dog. "What are you going to do ... hit me?" the neighbor asked, according to police.

Sieber was arrested early Monday morning for doing exactly that, police said. She punched her 69-year-old neighbor in the left shoulder, according to Tarpon Springs police, and was charged with battery on a person 65 years or older.

When police arrested Sieber, they noted that she had suffered facial injuries. When asked what happened, she told officers her mother attacked her. Then she changed her story and said her mother did not hit her. Sieber refused medical treatment.

She was booked into the Pinellas County jail, where she was being held Tuesday in lieu of $1,500 bail.