Worker out on bond after Golden Corral attack assaults man with hammer, SC officials say
A man was inside a Golden Corral restaurant in South Carolina when he unleashed an attack, leaving his co-worker with a broken bone, officials said.
The worker had bonded out of jail before he attacked someone else with a hammer two months later in June 2021, according to Spartanburg-area prosecutors.
Now, the man accused of committing the “violent assaults” is going to prison. George Thomas Hunter pleaded guilty to several charges and was ordered to serve two decades behind bars, the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said March 8 in a news release.
An attorney believed to be representing Hunter didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on March 9. Golden Corral also didn’t immediately respond.
Prosecutors said Hunter was working in the dishwashing room of a Golden Corral when he punched a co-worker “in the back of the head” on April 14, 2021. A manager reportedly told Hunter to leave the restaurant, located on W.O. Ezell Boulevard in Spartanburg.
“After bonding out of jail, Hunter approached a Phillips Drive homeowner on June 10, 2021 about 1:30 a.m. and asked to borrow his telephone,” officials said. The homeowner recognized Hunter from grass cutting Hunter had completed in the past.”
But when Hunter got inside the home, he was accused of attacking the man with a hammer and demanding his money and electronics. The homeowner later picked Hunter out of a photo lineup, according to prosecutors.
On March 7, officials said Hunter “pleaded guilty to armed robbery, first-degree assault and battery, and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.” The 56-year-old Spartanburg resident must serve 85% of his sentence before he can be released.
“He has repeatedly demonstrated his inability to conform to the laws of our state,” Jennifer Jordan, assistant solicitor, said in the news release.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:59 AM with the headline "Worker out on bond after Golden Corral attack assaults man with hammer, SC officials say."
