A 23-year-old Newton man is facing multiple misdemeanor charges after Burke County deputies say he climbed on cars, tried to fight bystanders in a Hildebran parking lot, and then assaulted a deputy at the county magistrate's office. Shydarieune Carlos McCullough, of Kilbourne Drive in Newton, was taken into custody Wednesday following the disturbance at Cubbard Express on Old NC 10, according to authorities.
According to the Burke County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a report of a male approaching several other men in the Cubbard Express parking lot on Wednesday. Witnesses told deputies the man had been jumping on the roof of at least one vehicle, attempting to get into multiple vehicles in the lot and at a neighboring church, and trying to grab another subject in an apparent attempt to fight bystanders. A deputy on scene removed a taser and ordered the man to the ground, though the sheriff's office says the taser itself was never deployed. The man then laid down on the ground as instructed.
Court documents released after the incident allege McCullough shoved and assaulted multiple random citizens and entered at least one vehicle without permission before deputies stepped in, according to Catawba Valley News & Weather. Despite the alleged behavior toward bystanders, witnesses at the scene declined to pursue personal charges against McCullough over the parking lot disturbances, the sheriff's office says.
Deputy Says Resistance Continued Into the Patrol Car
Even after being placed in handcuffs, McCullough initially failed to comply with the deputy's order, per the sheriff's office. Local station WHKY reported that deputies say McCullough physically resisted while being loaded into the patrol car for transport, pulling away from the deputy and refusing to get in before ultimately being placed inside.
The confrontation didn't end there. Deputies say that once McCullough was transported to the Burke County Magistrate's Office, he assaulted the deputy — an allegation that led to the most serious charge he now faces: misdemeanor assault on a government official. Under North Carolina General Statute § 14-33(c)(4), that offense is a Class A1 misdemeanor, the highest misdemeanor classification in the state, carrying a potential maximum penalty of up to 150 days in jail, according to the Manning Law Firm.
Additional Charges Carry Lower Maximum Penalties
McCullough was also charged with misdemeanor resisting a public officer, tied to his alleged refusal to follow the deputy's commands and get into the patrol vehicle. That charge falls under North Carolina General Statute § 14-223 as a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and fines up to $1,000, according to the Stowe Law Firm. Under the state's structured sentencing matrix, first-time Class 2 misdemeanor offenders typically face community punishment unless their prior record level dictates otherwise, the firm notes.
A third charge, misdemeanor disorderly conduct, stems from the parking lot disturbance itself. That offense is codified under N.C.G.S. § 14-288.4, also a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days of confinement and discretionary court fines, per the Scharff Law Firm, which notes the statute targets actions intended to cause public annoyance or alarm in commercial public areas.
Bond Set at $5,000, Court Date in October
McCullough was released on a $5,000 secured bond. North Carolina pretrial release guidelines require anyone issued a secured bond of that kind to post cash, property, or a professional bail bond before being released from custody pending trial, as Hoodline has previously reported. He is scheduled to appear in court on October 15.
That court date will play out in Burke County District Court in Morganton, the county seat, which handles criminal charges filed by the Burke County Sheriff's Office, according to NCpedia.
A Cross-County Incident Along a Familiar Corridor
McCullough's Newton address places him in neighboring Catawba County, but the incident unfolded in Hildebran, an eastern Burke County town of roughly 1,693 residents situated along U.S. Route 70 and Interstate 40, right at the Catawba County line, according to World Population Review. The town's position along major highway corridors connects commercial stops between Hickory and Morganton, making cross-county incidents like this one a recurring feature of law enforcement work in the region.
Cross-county processing is common in the Catawba Valley given the shared transit networks linking Newton, Hickory, and Hildebran. Burke County itself has a population of approximately 87,570 residents, with small commercial nodes serving as primary transit hubs for surrounding rural communities. The case adds to a string of recent Burke County Sheriff's Office actions in Hildebran, following a report on a man nabbed with a gun after cutting copper lines earlier this month.
