A Fayetteville man was arrested Wednesday evening after he got involved in a fight at the Waffle House on Ga. Highway 85 south, police said.

Joel Madison Hix, 41, of Dawn Drive was charged with public drunkenness, police said. Witnesses told police that Hix was boisterous inside the restaurant, being loud and causing problems with employees and customers when someone approached him and asked him to calm down, police said.

At some point, the person intervening with Hix pulled him by the ear, and that’s when the fight started, police said. When officers arrived, several witnesses said Hix had left the restaurant and was hiding in the wooded area behind the building, and the sheriff’s department’s helicopter unit assisted in the search.

Hix was located and arrested and was extremely intoxicated, police said. Even though the person Hix fought with received minor injuries, after he was arrested he said he was afraid that he had killed the person, police said.