LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — A woman accused of hitting a Lincoln County deputy with her SUV Monday night was given a $750,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputy C. Camp was traveling on Highway 73 when he saw two women fighting in the middle of the road at the Highway 16 interchange in Denver, investigators said.
The sheriff saw Camp’s body-worn camera and said the deputy sat Kara Ann Johnson, 25, down in his car to calm her down after the fight.
Camp told Johnson that she was not under arrest.
But she still got into her SUV and sped away, striking Camp, who hit the windshield and rolled across the roof, authorities said.
A photo from the sheriff’s office shows the impact Camp’s body made on the windshield.
Johnson apparently put the vehicle in reverse but stopped before backing up over him, officials said.
Two bystanders, a former U.S. Marine, and an off-duty medic, rushed to help Camp.
“God puts you in the right places at the right time and that’s where we were supposed to be last night,” said one of the bystanders who did not want to be identified.
They pulled him out of the way when the SUV nearly hit him a minute later.
“If they did not move him over, she would have struck him again,” said Sheriff Bill Beam.
“I would not intentional hurt someone.”
— Ken (@kenlemonWSOC9) February 21, 2023
The woman accused of attempting to kill a Lincoln County deputy cried in court today. The sheriff said Kara Johnson hit the deputy sending him tumbling over a car, then tried to hit him again. Bystanders pulled him out of the way. pic.twitter.com/MpQrUOpAh0
After Johnson sped off, witnesses told arriving deputies what kind of vehicle she was in.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department got the description of the vehicle and found it, along with Johnson, at a home in Charlotte.
Camp was taken to Atrium Health in Charlotte with non-life-threatening injuries. He is expected to be OK.
“I would never intentionally hurt someone,” Johnson would later say.
The district attorney said Tuesday that either attempt could have been fatal.
“I’m trying to do good in life and I know my record looks bad,” Johnson said.
The district attorney listed multiple prior assault charges in Gaston, Lincoln, and Mecklenburg counties.
Beam said Camp has bad cuts but no broken bones.
Johnson was charged with attempted murder and given a $750,000 bond in court Tuesday.
The other woman is not facing any charges.
Return to this developing story for updates.
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