Man accused of pointing gun at police officer

A Carteret County man accused of pointing a gun at a police officer was recently arrested on an assault charge.

George Thomas Guthrie, 44, of 24th Street in Emerald Isle, was arrested by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office on April 29 and charged with one felony count of assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm, according to a sheriff's office news release.

Officers from Indian Beach, Pine Knoll Shores and the sheriff's office responded to a call for assistance Wednesday afternoon from on-duty Indian Beach Police Officer Chris Burroughs after he found himself staring down the barrel of a Remington rifle, the release said.

Burroughs was directing funeral traffic at the Salter Path United Methodist Church when Guthrie reportedly walked across the street and made some negative comments to the officer. Several minutes after Guthrie left the area on foot, he returned with a rifle and pointed it at the officer from a kneeling position, the sheriff's office said.

The officer took cover and saw a female subject, later identified as the suspect's girlfriend, jump on Guthrie and take the weapon. Guthrie then fled to a nearby relative's house, the release said.

Guthrie had been arrested the prior week for assault, and resist, obstruct and delay an officer, authorities said.