The owner of a local paving company had two run-ins with law enforcement on two consecutive July days, but he was not charged in either incident.
On July 19, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office responded to an assault after a contractor knocked out a repo man.
According to the report, Benjamin C. Cranford, the owner of C&H Paving, struck Harold Lassiter, a 57-year-old Florida repo man, in the face with his closed fist causing him to fall back on the ground and lose consciousness.
Lassiter was attempting to pickup a paving machine for repossession.
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Kevin Bevill, the repo driver and witness on the scene, stated while he was loading up the machine, Cranford pulled up and slammed on brakes. Bevill said Cranford began yelling at Lassiter and then struck him in the face causing him to lose consciousness. Cranford then fled the scene according to the report.
Bevill called 911 as Lassiter later was able to sit up but was transported to Doctors Hospital emergency room in Augusta.
According the Chief Jammie Smith from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Lassiter did not want to press any charges despite his trip to the ER.
The day before, Cranford was involved in another incident after he and his crew attempted to dig up the parking lot of a storage facility located at 5060 High Meadows Drive in Grovetown.
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According to the report from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Cranford and his crew began digging up the parking lot on July 18 because his company did not get paid for the asphalt.
The incident in Columbia County also became physical with another construction company employee on site. Cranford allegedly started digging under the construction company owner’s feet, lifting him four feet off the ground, according to the report. Crew members broke up the altercation.
Deputies told all parties that the incident was a civil matter and told Crawford not to dig or remove any more asphalt or he would be charged.
