A Harmony man is facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges following a domestic dispute that occurred Saturday, October 25, in northern Iredell County.
Deputies with the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Mocksville Road after receiving a 911 call reporting an active assault. During the call, dispatchers briefly lost contact with the caller, who had stated before the line disconnected that the suspect had threatened to kill her.
When deputies arrived, they heard a woman yelling about a gun and made contact with the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Joshua Anson Orner. A search of Orner revealed a firearm magazine, though no gun was initially found. Deputies determined that a woman at the residence had been assaulted.
As officers attempted to take Orner into custody, he allegedly resisted arrest, tried to flee, and assaulted the deputies. After a brief struggle, he was detained. A later search of the property uncovered a handgun outside the home. Deputies also confirmed that Orner is a convicted felon with multiple prior felony convictions, making it illegal for him to possess a firearm.
Orner was charged with felony assault by strangulation inflicting serious injury and felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He also faces misdemeanor charges of assault on a female, domestic violence, assault on a government official, resisting a public officer, and simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
He was booked into the Iredell County Detention Center and initially held without bond. His bond was later set at $50,000 secured. Orner made his first court appearance on Monday, October 27, and is scheduled to return to court on November 17.
