PERRY COUNTY — The Perry County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 51-year-old man in connection with a weekend altercation that may have left a Nashville man permanently blind.

Allen Joseph Fisher
(Source: PCSO)

Allen Joseph Fisher was arrested for alleged aggravated battery causing disfigurement and disabling injuries. Fisher remains in the Perry County Jail awaiting the formal filing of charges and the setting of bail.

According to the Perry County Sheriff’s Office, Fisher was taken into custody around 7:30 a.m. Friday. at his home.

Reports say 46-year-old Robert Pfister was driving in the western part of Perry County Saturday afternoon when Fisher chased him down and blocked his vehicle.

Pfister reportedly got out of his vehicle and the two men began fight, ultimately ending up in a roadside ditch where the Fisher allegedly gouged Pfister’s eyes. Authorities are being told he may lose his eyesight.

Pfister was airlifted from the scene to a St. Louis area hospital for treatment of his injuries.

The incident has been under investigation by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office, Perry County Anti-crime Taskforce and the Illinois State Police.

Fisher has a record of arrests for aggravated battery, domestic battery, and battery to a senior citizen dating back at least 10 years in Southern Illinois. He recently completed 2-years probation for a charge of misdemeanor battery that had been reduced from a felony charge of aggravated battery to a person over the age of 60.