71-Year-Old Man Charged with Strangulation After Alleged Incident at Waltham Home Depot

A 71-year-old man from Quincy is facing charges of suffocation or strangulation after an alleged incident in the parking lot of Home Depot in Waltham on September 17.

According to police, Alexander J. Mackenzie was backing up his white car when he allegedly almost reversed into another vehicle driven by a male caller who reported being hit. The second caller, later identified as Mackenzie, said he didn't see the first caller behind him and that he thought he saw a weapon in the caller's hand.

Mackenzie claimed to have grabbed a hammer from his truck and confronted the man, but denied laying a hand on him. However, the other caller stated that after kicking Mackenzie's truck due to being almost run over, Mackenzie allegedly exited the vehicle again with the hammer in hand and strangled the caller for around four seconds using both hands.

The incident was captured on camera by the second caller, who showed the footage to police. Mackenzie was arrested and charged with one count of strangulation or suffocation. He pleaded not guilty on September 18 and will face a pretrial hearing on November 2.