A Bluff City woman faces charges of aggravated assault after allegedly striking a neighbor with her car, knocking him in the air and into an electric fence.
According to a police report, the woman revved the engine of her 1998 Ford Mustang before hitting the man, 59, leaving 13 feet long skid marks in a driveway. Christine Johnson, 58, of 889 Old Elizabethton Highway, was located shortly after the Tuesday evening incident and arrested.
A Sullivan County deputy was dispatched to Johnson's neighbor's residence at approximately 6 p.m. A police report says the man, who had marks on his back and dirt on his shoulders, relayed that he and another individual were working on a culvert along the driveway, following recent flooding of his yard.
As he and the other man were "stopping up" a drain Johnson came down the driveway in her car. She reportedly cussed the men and their work, stating she'd "fix the problem." As her neighbor was walking across the driveway with a bucket of water, according to the report, Johnson revved her Mustang's engine, slammed it into gear and spun her tires.
Her car hit the man, according to witness statements, "making him go airborne and hit his electric fence." Johnson is alleged to have then drove to the end of the driveway, exited her car and yelled at the neighbor for being on her property. The report doesn't specify on whose property the assault allegedly occurred, but notes that Johnson claimed she "just bumped" the victim with her car.
When police arrived Johnson had left the scene. An officer notes skid marks were observed in the driveway, and a warrant would be issued for Johnson's arrest if she wasn't located during the night.
Within two hours Johnson was found at a residence on Main Street in Bluff City, charged with aggravated assault and booked into the county jail.