A Charleston man is in custody after he allegedly assaulted a city commissioner so violently that the official may require facial reconstructive surgery — all during a reported robbery that netted $23 in cash.
Mountanaous “Monty” Dogan, 25, of 73 Marshall Road, Apt. 23, Charleston, is charged with aggravated assault, burglary of a dwelling and petty larceny and is being held at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler on a bond of $205,000, according to Charleston Police Chief Luther Folson.
The chief said Dogan turned himself in and was charged at 10 a.m. Friday after learning that an arrest warrant had been issued for him.
The victim, Ward 1 City Commissioner Gyrone Kenniel, 63, who suffered lacerations and bruises on his head and face, had named Dogan as his attacker after being questioned by police in the emergency room at Tallahatchie General Hospital roughly eight hours earlier, Folson noted.
Kenniel, who had been transported to TGH in a police cruiser, was later transferred by ambulance to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he was treated and released late Friday afternoon, Folson explained.
“From what I understand, he is going to have to have reconstructive surgery,” the chief said. “He was beaten up pretty bad.”
Folson said Kenniel told police that he had answered a knock on the front door of his residence at 106 Depot St. shortly after 1 a.m. Friday and was confronted by Dogan, who demanded money.
When Kenniel told the man he had no money to give, the visitor “commenced to jumping on him,” noted Folson, who said Kenniel was first attacked with multiple fist punches to his face while standing in the doorway of his home. After Kenniel stumbled backward and fell onto the floor, he was repeatedly kicked in the head and face, the chief added.
The assault finally ended after the man took the $23 from Kenniel’s wallet and fled, Folson said.
Kenniel, who lives alone, went next door to a friend’s house, where the friend dialed 911, the chief noted. That call rang in to the Tallahatchie County Jail at 1:21 a.m., according to the log book.
Kenniel is a first-term city commissioner, having been sworn into office on June 30.
IN THE PHOTO: Charleston Ward 1 City Commissioner Gyrone Kenniel on June 30, the day he was sworn into office at the start of his first term
