Bartow County deputies arrested two Cartersville residents at Red Roof Inn on State Route 20 Spur near Somerset Club Drive near Cartersville that were reportedly involved in an assault at the Circle K gas station nearby on State Route 20 after a witness said they were the two white males involved that were wearing khaki shorts and hats.

34-year-old Joshua Douglas Shepherd and 30-year-old Ricky Andreas Muller stated that a man in a black truck honked at a lady at Circle K, and they found it disrespectful, so they confronted the man and got in his face but never became physical or threatened harm.

The man stated he politely honked at the vehicle in front to attempt to get it to move up, but it didn’t, so he drove around. He said the two suspects confronted him about the honking while he was holding a fuel nozzle, so he calmly told them to leave him alone. He stated that Muller threw a punch that struck his forearm and groove between his chin and lower lip, causing him to scratch his truck with the fuel nozzle. The man stated that Shepherd opened a black folding knife and told him he would cut him.

After a witness statement and video footage, deputies arrested the suspects. The arresting deputy said Shepherd uttered he was sorry and that pulling his knife was just his reaction to the situation.

The BCSO charged Joshua Shepherd with aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of certain crimes and Ricky Muller with simple battery and criminal trespass.