Bondsmen charged in Dade County shooting

photo gun shooting tile

A Trenton, Ga., man is hospitalized and two local bondsmen are free on bond after a shooting Thursday on Cherokee Trail in Dade County.

"We had a couple of bondsmen come down to Dade County to pick up somebody who failed to go to court," Chief Detective Don Hicks with the county sheriff's office said Friday of the men accused in the shooting.

The bondsmen, William Cornelius Cardin Jr., 56, of Dalton, Ga., and Dave Anthony Coburn, 59, of Chattanooga, posted bonds of $10,000 each on charges of aggravated assault, jail officials said.

"They went to this residence here in Trenton and things got out of hand, and the guy at the residence ended up getting shot in the arm," Hicks said.

The victim, Michael A. Parker, 21, had surgery and was still in the hospital Friday, Hicks said. The incident happened just outside the Trenton city limits.

The men work for Huckabee Bonding in Chattanooga, Hicks said.

The detective said he didn't think Cardin and Coburn, who he said were armed with .40-caliber Glock pistols, intended for the encounter to develop the way it did.

"I think it happened because they were scuffling around and he was trying to get away from them," he said.

Either way, the result is felony criminal charges, Hick said.

Staff at the Huckabee Bonding Co. office in Chattanooga said Friday that company President Roger Hendrix was out of town and couldn't be reached for comment.

Jail officials said no court dates had been set Friday.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/ben.benton1 and at twitter.com/BenBenton on Twitter.

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