McClung

CANAAN VALLEY – A Colorado woman is facing a felony assault charge in Tucker County after allegedly cutting another woman’s arm with a knife.

Austin Marie McClung, 18, of Carbondale, Colorado, is charged with one count of malicious or unlawful assault, a felony. She is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $30,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Corporal B.M. Gidley with the Tucker County Sheriff’s Office, on May 1, Gidley, along with Lieutenant Teter and Sergeant Zirk, received a call from Tucker County Communications regarding an assault that occurred next to the Grant County Bank in Canaan Valley.

Upon arrival, Gidley spoke with the alleged victim, who advised that she had been at the Breakfast Nook restaurant in Canaan, the complaint states. When the alleged victim went to go for a walk, McClung allegedly got upset she was leaving. McClung reportedly followed the alleged victim down the road and stabbed the alleged victim’s bag with a knife, before slashing the alleged victim’s left arm.

The attack allegedly occurred outside, along WV Route 32 in the Canaan Valley area heading toward the Grant County Bank, the complaint states. The alleged victim said McClung slashed her with a silver kitchen knife with a serrated edge. The alleged victim reportedly advised that McClung always carried that knife with her. When EMS arrived and assessed the alleged victim, Gidley obtained photos of the slash wound, which was approximately four inches in length. Gidley also gathered the damaged bag as evidence.

Gidley was advised that McClung was back at the Breakfast Nook and he went there to locate her, the complaint states. When asked if she knew why officers where there, McClung allegedly said it was because of what happened between her and the alleged victim. Gidley asked McClung what happened, to which McClung reportedly said, “I got mad at (the alleged victim) because she told my friend to kill herself.” When McClung confronted the alleged victim about it, she reportedly told Gidley that she stabbed the duffel bag the alleged victim was carrying and cut her arm with a knife she had grabbed from the Breakfast Nook.

According to the complaint, Gidley recovered the silver knife allegedly used in the incident from a representative of the Breakfast Nook. He also received a statement from a witness who said she was present when McClung left the Breakfast Nook with the knife. The witness stated that, when McClung came back, McClung said she had cut the alleged victim on the arm.