An unidentified male attacked a Carroll County Electric Department employee Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. after he disconnected the service meter from a home in Cedar Grove for failure to make payment for service, according to Carroll County Electric Manager Lynn Compton.

The attacker, who is described as a 30-year-old male, fled the scene and is being sought by Henderson County authorities because the incident took place at the edge of Henderson County at 138 Murphy Tower Cove.

Norman Leslie of Westport, who is the delinquent account field collector for Carroll County Electric, went to a modular home in Cedar Grove, where the meter is registered to James and Mary Gregory. The Gregorys were reportedly in Nashville at the time of the incident and told authorities they did not know the identity of the man at the residence.

Mr. Leslie talked to the man at the home and gave him an opportunity to pay the bill, advising him that failure to do so would result in immediate disruption of service.

"I told him I would have to either collect or pull the meter," said Mr. Leslie. When he failed to pay the bill, Mr. Leslie pulled the meter and proceeded back to his service truck. About halfway to the truck, the man approached Mr. Leslie and made the assault.

"He hit me with his fist and big ring," said Leslie, who fell to the ground after he lost his footing in an effort to run backwards. "I grabbed my radio and keyed the mike. He grabbed it out of my hand."

Leslie was struck on the left side of the head, bending his eyeglasses, and inflicting a large laceration on his left ear. He then proceeded to strike two more blows to the injured man. Following the assault, he took the collector's radio and threw it into a nearby thicket and ordered him to put the meter back on the house, Compton said.

"He stayed right with me (until the meter was reset)," said Leslie.

Once Leslie was inside his vehicle, he radioed department headquarters in Huntingdon and spoke to Manager Compton. He advised that he was able to drive his vehicle and was instructed to go to Parker's Crossroads, the nearest populated area and wait for assistance.

Mr. Compton said he immediately notified Henderson County Sheriff's Department, who dispatched a deputy to the I-Mart parking lot and Compton dispatched several electric department employees to the Parker's Crossroads location as well.

After assessing Mr. Leslie's condition, the deputy ordered an ambulance from Lexington to transport the injured man to Methodist Hospital of Lexington, where he required 13 sutures to close the wound to his ear. He was released from the emergency room at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Compton noted that Mr. Leslie has a past history of heart complications. However, he is recovering nicely and returned to work on Monday.

This is not the first time electrical service has been discontinued to this property, Mr. Compton said. He noted, however, that Mr. and Mrs. Gregory came into his office Friday and paid the $99.03 bill, in addition to a $20.00 reconnect fee and June's bill of $56.31.

Compton said department employees often have to tolerate verbal abuse such as cursing and gestures from irate customers, but this is the first time that physical contact has been made with an employee.

"It got so bad in our office that we have installed security cameras to monitor any violent situations," he said. He noted that action has greatly curtailed the abuse.

Leslie said after the incident "ninety-eight percent of the people are nice" that he has to deal with.

Leslie has worked with Carroll County Electric Department for 35 years of which the last 10 to 12 years have been in collections.
 

• Proclaimed June "Adopt a Cat Month" in cooperation with the Carroll County Humane Society;
• Approved a request from Bethel College for the use of the Veterans Park tennis courts for a tournament to be held June 19 through June 24th;
• Approved a request from Jerry Autry for the use of Edwards Park on June 1 for a co-ed softball tournament; and
• Approved the use of the Kelley Sports Complex by Bruceton's Traveler's Team on May 31.

Beer Board Grants Permit

Directly following the Town Council meeting, the Huntingdon Beer Board convened to consider the application of James R. White, a resident of Union City, for a permit to sell beer for off premises consumption at Swifty T, located at 21020 Main Street East in Huntingdon.

With all requirements met for the permit, the board voted unanimously to approve the application.

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