ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A man accused of attacking a woman on a Bent Creek trail now faces a felony kidnapping charge after Buncombe County investigators continued reviewing the case over the weekend.
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office announced Sunday that deputies served an additional warrant charging Dillon James Curtis, 29, of Etowah, with second-degree kidnapping, a felony. Curtis is now being held without bond at the Buncombe County Detention Facility.
“Deputies continued to investigate after the victim took out the initial charges,” BCSO District 1 Capt. Dustan Auldredge said. “Through the investigation, deputies determined that second-degree kidnapping was an appropriate additional charge.”
Curtis was arrested Saturday following a reported attack on Asheville runner and outdoor content creator Emily Sutherland in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest.
According to arrest warrants filed May 22, Curtis was initially charged with assault on a female, false imprisonment, interfering with emergency communications and communicating threats. Court records show all four charges stem from an incident said to have occurred May 21.
The newly filed kidnapping warrant alleges Curtis “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did kidnap Emily Sutherland,” a person age 16 or older, by unlawfully confining her without her consent “for the purpose of terrorizing” her.
The investigation began after Sutherland reported being attacked while finishing a run in Bent Creek on May 21. In a social media post that quickly gained attention, Sutherland said a man confronted her on the trail, physically attacked her and threatened her before two mountain bikers arrived and intervened.
According to previously filed warrants, Curtis allegedly shoved Sutherland, swung at her, restrained her against her will, attempted to prevent her from calling for help and threatened to “knock her out and drag her into the woods.”
Deputies arrested Curtis in Henderson County on May 22 and transported him to Buncombe County. He was initially held on a $5,000 secured bond before the felony kidnapping charge was added Sunday.
Curtis is scheduled to appear in Buncombe County District Court on Tuesday, May 26. The investigation remains ongoing.
