Catawba County Man Sent To Prison For Assault

Jonathan Andreas Linebarger, 48, of Catawba, was given an active prison sentence of six to eight years following his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm by felon and his admission to habitual felon status.

Linebarger entered guilty pleas to those charges during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday, April 19. The Honorable Steven Warren, Superior Court Judge from Buncombe County, imposed the prison term for Linebarger.

The defendant’s sentence length was enhanced by his status as a habitual felon, which included prior convictions for possession with intent to sell/deliver cocaine (October 2004), possession of Schedule II controlled substance (September 2008) and attempted obstruction of justice (May 2011), all in Catawba County.

Linebarger will serve the period of incarceration in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.

On February 9, 2019, Linebarger went to a Claremont residence. He approached the adult victim while holding a handgun, and the victim fled into a wooded area as the defendant fired at least six shots into the woods.

Another witness was at a neighbor’s house and heard the gunshots. While hiding behind a parked car, she saw the defendant leave in his vehicle and heard him fire another couple shots as he departed the property.

On October 24, 2019, officers responded to a report of shots fired at a Hickory residence. A witness told them that the defendant shot four or five times before leaving the scene in his vehicle.

Linebarger previously had been convicted of possession of a firearm by felon in July 2014 in Catawba County.