Here in Georgia, a conviction for aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer equals a minimum three-year prison sentence, which is the possibility one Milledgeville man is facing following an incident earlier this month at the County Line Music Festival on Corral Road. An estimated 4,000 people attended the festival, which raised more than $40,000 for charity.
Following the incident, one of the responding Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office deputies checked himself into the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken finger and bruising to his face.
Mitch Tyler Duncan, 25, was charged with three total felonies – two counts of felony obstruction of an officer and one count of felony aggravated battery to a law enforcement officer.
Duncan reportedly became rowdy as the festival wound down and people were leaving. Duncan first yelled and cussed at a charter bus before turning his attention to a group of people walking to their car. According to the incident report, Duncan punched another man, identified as Austin Skiff, who then punched back and got the upper hand on Duncan, pinning him to the ground.
Multiple deputies were working crowd control at the time, and one of the deputies spotted the skirmish and approached the scene. “Skiff was on top of Duncan throwing punches at him on the side of the roadway,” according to the incident report.
Added the report: “I intervened by tackling Skiff off the top of Duncan. While I was struggling to control Skiff, Duncan climbed on top of me and punched me on the right side of my head three times before continuing to punch Skiff in the face.”
Another deputy then intervened and was subsequently kicked by Duncan, according to the incident report. A third deputy arrived, and Duncan was finally handcuffed.
Skiff was interviewed and ultimately told that he was free to go.
Duncan “continued to resist arrest” all the way up to the point of being put in the back of a patrol car.