Talladega Mayor Larry Barton, 74, assaulted outside barber shop by man, 71 (update)

Update:The suspect has been identified as 71-year-old Benny J. Green of Irondale.

Monday, Vestavia Hills Police Department Investigators obtained a felony warrant on Green for Assault 1st degree. Green will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail, pending a $150,000 bond requirement.

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. - Talladega's mayor is recovering at UAB Hospital after being beaten with a baseball bat.

Mayor Larry Barton says he was hit getting out of his car at the Cahaba Heights Plaza Barber Shop. .

Barton spoke to ABC 33/40 over the phone from his hospital bed at UAB.{}The mayor says he's having some tests done. He has some bumps and bruises. Vestavia Hills police say he was assaulted just before 8 a.m. Saturday.

Mayor Barton works at the barber shop part time. When he got out of his car for work, Barton says a man started hitting him with a baseball bat.

The 74-year-old mayor says he was able to push him away. People across the street saw it happen and called 911.{}

The suspect was taken to Brookwood Medical Center with abrasions and possible dehydration, but police arrested him a short time later.

"I pulled in the barber shop parking lot and was about to get out of my car, this person sort of in a hood and had something on his head, when I started to get out of the car, he grabbed me and started hitting me with a ball bat - he hit me several times. I have a few bruises and bumps and abrasions. Fortunately, I was able to wrestle him to the ground."

Mayor Barton use to work full time at the barber shop. He hopes to leave the hospital Sunday.

Police say the mayor knows the 71-year-old suspect,{}but authorities{}have not released the suspect's name or a possible{}motive.{}