A Mountain City man faces a felony charge after police say he walked into a local business and attacked an employee earlier this month.
Officers of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ronnie Curd, 45, 442 D. Curd Lane, Mountain City, on Wednesday afternoon on a warrant charging him with aggravated assault. Curd was later released from the Carter County Detention Center after posting a $10,000 bond.
The charge against Curd stems from an investigation that began on March 21 when Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an assault at Hayworth Tire, located at 4074 Highway 19E in the Valley Forge community.
Witnesses at the scene reported to officers that a man, later identified as Curd, walked into the tire changing area at the business and asked “who is Tim.” Eddie Whitaker, an employee, said he pointed to Timothy Mains, who was working at a tire mounting machine.
“Curd walked directly up to Mains, whose concentration was on the tire machine, and struck him with his right fist in the face, which fractured his upper pallet below his nose,” said CCSO Investigator Harmon Duncan. “Mains later had to have reconstructive surgery for this injury.”
After Curd struck Mains, witnesses said they grabbed him and pulled him away from Mains before letting him go.
“Upon his release, Curd picked up a tire rim, charged Mains again, and attempted to strike Mains with the tire rim while Mains was bent over bleeding,” Duncan said.
Employees once again restrained Curd, this time taking him to the ground, Duncan said. The witnesses reported that after being tackled, Curd got up and “calmly walked” to his truck and left.
“Tim Mains stated to deputies at the scene that he did not know who the man who assaulted him was or why he hit him, further stating he had no idea what prompted Curd’s actions,” Duncan said. “The morning of March 22, Hayworth employees stated that a man called the store stating he was the person who assaulted Mains, stating that Mains was dating the man’s ex-girlfriend and the attack concerned a 6-year-old boy living with the girlfriend and involved in a Child Protective Services case that the caller stated ‘was moving too slow.’ The caller inquired about the condition of Mains and stated he regretted his actions.”
“Whatever story behind this event may be, the aggravated assault by Ronnie Curd is clearly unprovoked at the time of occurrence,” Duncan added.
Curd is scheduled to appear in Carter County General Sessions Court on April 12.