Former Sheriff’s Lt. Kenneth Aaron Smith allegedly rammed Matthew Duncan’s truck Friday before attacking Duncan, according to warrants.
Smith, 33, resigned Friday when he was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault inflicting serious injury. Smith was released on a $100,000 secured bond. The warrants were obtained by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
Smith was off-duty when the incident occurred Friday morning. The warrant shows that Smith drive his Dodge Ram pickup into the side of Duncan’s vehicle on the driver’s side, “causing (Duncan) to get wedged between the door of the truck and his (own) vehicle.”
When Duncan fell to the ground, the warrant states that Smith punched him in the face and head multiple times, causing “a broken nose, multiple lacerations about the face, two black eyes, and numerous cuts and bruises about his face and body.”
The SBI was called in to investigate the case as is standard with any incident involving an officer, according to a press release.
Smith is scheduled to appear in court June 26. Until Friday’s incident he was head of the narcotics division at the sheriff’s office.
Duncan was transported to an area hospital for treatment.
