ROCKINGHAM — Two men were booked into the Richmond County Jail early Tuesday morning with bandaged heads following an alleged fight.
According to a press release posted to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, deputies responded to a home on Tillman Road, northwest of Rockingham, “in reference to an individual possibly being stabbed.”
The first deputy on scene reportedly found a man — armed with a machete — bleeding from his head.
Other deputies arrived and reportedly were interviewing other individuals at the scene when they found another man with head injuries, “armed with what appeared to be a hammer.”
Both men, 52-year-old Tony Frederick Terry and 53-year-old Edward Terry Jr., were taken to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond for treatment, then arrested as they were released, according to the sheriff’s office.
Tony Terry is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and two counts of assault and battery and was booked on a $25,000 secured bond. Jail records show Tony Terry is also being held on a combined $7,812.13 cash bond for child support and a $15,060.14 appeal bond on a child support-related order for arrest for failure to appear in court.
Edward Terry is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and two counts of assault and battery, and was given a $25,000 secured bond. He too is being held on a $8,962.07 cash bond for non-support of child support.
(Note: Jail records list his primary charge as “assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury,” but the press release does not indicate the “intent to kill.”)
Both Terrys are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 2 on the assault charges and Oct. 26 on the child support charges.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show both men have prior convictions, including assault.
Tony Terry was first convicted in 1990 on a misdemeanor count of breaking and entering vehicles in Anson County. The following year, he was convicted in Richmond County on two felony counts of breaking and entering vehicles and one count of felony larceny.
Records show his probation was revoked in 1994, but do not list when he was released from prison, only a projected release date of Jan. 17, 1997. (Note: It also appears records show the wrong year for the Anson County conviction.)
In 2000, Tony Terry was convicted of assault on a female and two counts of damage to property and the following year was convicted of driving while impaired. His probation on all four charges was revoked in 2002 when he was convicted of driving while license revoked, and he served four months behind bars.
In 2005, he was convicted of another DWI and again of assault on a female. His probation on those charges was revoked in 2006 leading to a nearly five-month incarceration.
Edward Terry was first convicted in 1987 on misdemeanor larceny and trespassing charges in Richmond County.
In 1991, Edward Terry was convicted of driving while impaired in Richmond County, then convicted in 1994 of DWI and driving while license revoked in Anson County.
Edward Terry was convicted of another DWI in 1998, in addition to possession of drug paraphernalia. His probation was revoked in 2000 following the conviction of yet another DWI, landing him behind bars for three months.
Records show Edward Terry was convicted of simple assault in 2009, with his most recent conviction being on a DWI in 2017.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
