A 50-year-old Catlett man who arrived too early for breakfast left with felony charges after assaulting deputies Wednesday morning.

On August 7th at approximately 5:07 a.m. deputies responded to Panera Bread, located at 1005 Stafford Market Place, for a disturbance. Staff advised an intoxicated male began banging on the door, demanding to be let in. Staff would open the door to inform the suspect the business was not open yet; however, when they did so, the suspect forced his way into the business. He would refuse to leave until staff called 911. He would then take off on foot.

Stafford deputies, with the assistance of Aquia Harbour Police Officers, would locate the suspect at the Circle K, located at 34 Prosperity Lane, in an intoxicated state. Due to his belligerent behavior and consistent spree of curse words, he was detained. This would make the suspect more aggressive and threaten the lives of deputies. Despite family members on scene encouraging him to stop being uncooperative and add additional charges, the suspect did just that by assaulting a deputy twice. The deputy was not seriously injured.

The suspects plethora of vulgar statements and threats, including biting off deputies’ noses, would continue during his free trip to Rappahannock Regional Jail. While McGruff might take a bite out of crime, this suspect lunged at a deputy at the jail attempting to take a bite out of him. Deputies were quickly able to prevent this.

The suspect, James Lee, was charged with three counts of assault and battery on law enforcement, three counts of obstruction of justice, trespassing, using abusive language, and public intoxication. Considering his unruly behavior, the magistrate determined he would be held at Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.