Local

Man attacks church members as they place crosses

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local woman says she's afraid to go back to her church after a man attacked her and several other church members.

She says the attacker was "as strong as a horse" who shrugged off a hammer blow to the face. He also was biting and punching anyone who got in his way.

The woman says members were putting up new crosses on their church Saturday on Mallard Creek Road when she says when 52-year-old Dravko Gligoric walked up to her, started cursing at her and attacked church members who tried to protect her.

"He said 'I'm going to kill you all,'" said the woman, who does not want to be identified.

They called police and locked themselves inside the church.

"We all thought we would get killed," she said. "I was just screaming and crying for my life."

That's when she says Gligoric kicked in the church door.

Another member hit him in the face with a hammer but that didn't stop him.

They say Gligoric punched people with his fists and a hammer and bit two people.

The woman says it took six men to hold him down.

"He doesn't look big," she said. "He's chubby. But he was strong like a horse."

Gligoric is charged with assault and battery, assault with a deadly weapon and making threats, and bond was set at $3,000