A man has been sentenced to half a year in jail after he tried to beat up the judicial commissioner who set his bond – the incident happening inside Warren County Jail.
The man, Ronald Welden, 29, entered guilty pleas before General Sessions Judge Bill Locke to charges of domestic assault and assault. He was ordered to serve six months of an 11-month, 29-day sentence.
It was the domestic assault incident that landed Welden in hot water. He was arrested after he punched his live-in girlfriend in the nose during an argument at a local motel. He was taken to jail where he came before judicial commissioner and former sheriff’s investigator Jim Hartman, who set his bond at $25,000. The bond, Welden believed, was too high.
“He became enraged, jumping up and throwing the chair he was sitting in and taking a fighting stance,” said Hartman in swearing out the warrant against Welden for assault.
Welden then started cursing at Hartman and had to be restrained by officers who rushed into the judicial commissioner’s room inside Warren County Jail. Welden tried break away from the officers to get at Hartman and continued to be incensed after being placed in a cell.
“He continued being enraged and, for 30 to 45 minutes, shouted vulgar remarks while beating on the cell door,” the warrant says.
Hartman said he was in fear for his safety given Welden’s actions and had to jump up from his seat in preparation to repel the attack. Actual physical contact is not required for assault.
The requirement is for the victim to be placed in fear he or she may be attacked.