A man from Fayetteville, GA is accused of slugging a co-worker so hard that the other man blacked out and suffered from temporary amnesia.
Alexander Gregory Durkin, 36, is charged with third-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He also faces one count for fleeing a peace officer, a misdemeanor.
Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 26, the Burnsville Police Department responded to a medical emergency on Highway 13 East in Burnsville. When police arrived, paramedics and members of the Fire Department were already on scene. A man—later identified as Durkin—was struggling with one of the firefighters. According to police, Durkin refused to follow orders. Eventually, he broke free and sprinted off on foot. Officers who caught up with Durkin deployed tasers more than once, to no avail. The complaint says that they then used "additional measures" to gain Durkin's compliance, then placed him under arrest.
A witness told police that the victim tried to walk away from a confrontation with Durkin. Durkin allegedly charged the other man, punching him in the face two times. The victim fell to the ground, unconscious, but Durkin jumped on the man and continued the assault, the witness said.
The injured man was rushed to the hospital for a possible head injury and fractured tooth. Doctors at the ER confirmed that the man was suffering from an a dental fracture and an intracranial injury, causing acute agitation, amnesia, closed head facial abrasions.
Police spoke to the victim once he had sufficiently recovered from the beating. The man told officers that he had a work relationship with Durkin, who began to argue over some workplace problem. The man said he tried to deflect the conversation and walked away. He said he never saw the punch that knocked him out. The last thing he remembered was waking up, disoriented, in the ambulance.
Durkin remains in custody at the Dakota County Jail, held on a $50,000 bond ($30,000 with conditions). His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 24.
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