A circuit court judge was attacked by a defendant in eastern Arkansas Tuesday morning, according to the St. Francis County sheriff’s office.
Circuit Judge Richard Proctor was presiding over a hearing about 11:30 a.m. in Forrest City when the defendant, 23-year-old Monjobius Clark, attacked him, Sheriff Bobby May said.
“The defendant was in front of him,” May said. “Why he attacked him, I don’t know.”
According to the sheriff, it took several deputies to get Clark off of the judge. “It really took something,” May said. “This guy was very, very, very strong.”
Paramedics treated Proctor at the courthouse. He suffered some bruises and an injury to his lip, authorities said.
The sheriff said he had never seen an attack like this before.
“I’ve been sheriff 30 years,” May said. “Sometimes they get a little rowdy in the courtroom, but never have I had an incident where they attacked a judge or anybody in the courtroom.”
Clark was originally booked into the St. Francis County jail on Monday on a charge of aggravated assault upon a certified law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility. He was returned to the jail while deputies wait on a court order for him to be taken to a mental health facility, May said.