An Elizabethton man faces felony charges after police say he stabbed his girlfriend and his roommate with a fork over the weekend.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Brandon Richard Melton, 35, 510 Bryant Ave., Elizabethton, on Sunday and charged him with aggravated assault under domestic violence, aggravated assault and simple possession of Schedule II drugs.
Shortly before 10 p.m. on Sunday, officers of the Elizabethton Police Department were dispatched to 510 Bryant Ave. after someone called 911 and reported a man inside the home had stabbed multiple people with a fork.
When officers arrived at the home, they found a male subject, later identified as Melton, being held down in the bathroom by another man, who was identified as Melton’s roommate, EPD Officer Kenneth Lowe said.
“Mr. Melton was acting extremely paranoid and delusional,” Lowe said. “Mr. Melton was asking officers to quote Bible verses to him, and screaming ‘please don’t shoot me.’”
Officers then requested medical personnel from the Carter County Rescue Squad to come to the home to evaluate Melton’s condition.
Lowe said officers then interviewed three people who were inside the home with Melton — a witness to the events, Melton’s roommate and Melton’s girlfriend.
“(The witness) said Mr. Melton was acting ‘crazy’ and began stabbing his girlfriend,” Lowe said. The witness told officers he was able to push Melton to the ground and then called for Melton’s roommate to assist him in restraining the man.
“I then spoke with (the roommate) who advised he was able to get Mr. Melton into the bathroom floor away from everyone,” Lowe said. The roommate told officers during the struggle to get Melton into the floor, Melton stabbed him in the back with the fork but he and the witness were eventually able to get the fork away from Melton.
“I then spoke with (Melton’s girlfriend), who advised she and Mr. Melton have been consuming methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and other illegal drugs all weekend,” Lowe said. “(She) said Mr. Melton has been acting paranoid throughout the day. (She) said she was sitting on the bed with Mr. Melton and (the witness) when Mr. Melton began accusing her of trying to kill him and being a member of the Illuminati.”
The woman reported Melton then grabbed a fork from a dinner plate and stabbed her in her left breast, Lowe said.
When officers conducted a pat down search on Melton, Lowe said he found a one dollar bill with a white residue on it and a small blue baggie of a white substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine.
After being cleared by hospital staff, Melton was booked into the Carter County Detention Center.
Melton appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Monday morning for arraignment. Judge Keith Bowers Jr. set Melton’s bond at $2,500 and scheduled him to return to court on June 28. Bowers ordered Melton to have no contact with either his girlfriend or his roommate.