Bent Creek trail assault case advances in Buncombe County court

The Bent Creek trail assault case moved into Buncombe County District Court on May 26, turning a frightening encounter on one of Asheville’s most heavily used outdoor corridors into a formal criminal case with a second-degree kidnapping charge attached. Dillon James Curtis, 29, of Etowah, was held without bond as the case advanced, and court records showed the Public Defender’s Office was appointed after the court approved an affidavit of indigency.

The hearing did not resolve the case, but it did move the matter deeper into the justice system just days after the alleged attack in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest south of Asheville. Prosecutors and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office have already tied multiple charges to the incident, including assault on a female, communicating threats, false imprisonment and interfering with emergency communication before the kidnapping count was added on May 24. Court records also reportedly noted three or more prior Class 1 misdemeanor-or-higher convictions in separate court sessions within the previous 10 years.

The victim has been identified in reporting as Asheville-based outdoor content creator Emily Sutherland. She said she was finishing a 13-mile trail run in the Bent Creek area when the suspect followed her in a car, tried to punch her, threatened to “knock her out and drag her into the woods,” and tried to take her phone as she attempted to call 911. Sutherland said two mountain bikers stepped in and helped end the confrontation.

For trail users across Buncombe County, the case has sharpened attention on safety in a place many residents think of as routine recreation, not a violent crime scene. Bent Creek Experimental Forest covers nearly 6,000 acres in Pisgah National Forest and is described by the U.S. Forest Service as the oldest federal experimental forest east of the Mississippi River, with roots in forest research and rehabilitation work dating to 1925 and 1927. The Forest Service also says designated trail use is posted at trailheads, and the North Carolina Arboretum notes its trail network connects to Bent Creek and other nearby public lands.

Curtis is scheduled to return to court on June 16 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 3B of the Buncombe County Judicial Complex. For runners, hikers and mountain bikers who use Bent Creek every day, the next step is not just another court date; it is part of a broader reckoning over how secure Asheville-area trail systems feel when violence reaches the forest.