A Covington man is in the Clarke County Jail facing a charge that he violently assaulted an employee at the Integrated Care Program of Advantage Behavior Health Systems this week, according to Athens-Clarke police.
An officer was dispatched to the facility off Mitchell Bridge Road at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the 43-year-old employee was choked until she passed out, according to the report.
The suspect, who was a patient, remained at the location when officers arrived, but the report shows he refused to speak with police. The victim told the officer she was making her rounds with patients when the 33-year-old man attacked her for no known reason.
The woman told police, before she was transported to a hospital, that she was grabbed by the throat, slammed to the floor and during the assault she passed out.
Other employees told police that the suspect arrived at the facility a couple of days earlier and had shown no signs of aggression, according to the report.
The officer also interviewed the 23-year-old security guard, who told the officer that after the suspect was pulled off the woman, the man was placed in a chair, but he became agitated and wanted to leave. The suspect then hit the security guard in the face, police said. The security guard did not want medical attention.
During the investigation, the report shows that some employees were opposed to the suspect being taken to jail, but the officer decided that due to the severity of the attack and risk of harm to others, the man would be placed in custody.
The suspect, charged with aggravated assault and battery, remained in jail on Thursday without bond.