Argument and Alleged Assault Outside Morganton Dollar General Leaves Three Charged

According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, detectives charged three people in connection with an assault outside a Dollar General that left one victim hospitalized with a punctured lung. Detectives charged Christopher Coffey, Allen Coffey and Alice Coffey with one count each of conspiracy to commit a felony and felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and "their bond was set at $50,000 each," WCNC reports.

WCNC reports the incident unfolded "Just before 10 p.m. last Thursday" when deputies were called to a Dollar General in the 2000 block of Hartland Road in Morganton on reports of an assault. "One of the victims told authorities that he and a friend were leaving the Dollar General parking when a blue car sped into the parking lot, its three occupants jumped from the vehicle, and two men pepper-sprayed and assaulted both victims," WCNC reports.

The injured victim told deputies that after his friend recovered enough from the pepper spray to try to break free, "a woman came from behind and stabbed him in the back." WCNC states that "the victim suffered a punctured lung and was rushed to the hospital in Morganton. The second victim sustained only minor injuries in the incident, according to the Sheriff's Office."

A CrimeRadar summary of public dispatch audio adds that callers reported an apparent assault that "began as an argument." CrimeRadar’s dispatch summary places the call to a Dollar General on Frank Whisnant Road in Morganton, creating a conflict with WCNC's identification of the store on Hartland Road. The two sources agree the store was in Morganton but differ on the street referenced; the precise store address has not been confirmed in public records available in the supplied reports.

WCNC carried the headline "Man, wife, son charged in Morganton assault," language that suggests familial relationships among the three Coffeys; the excerpted WCNC text names the defendants as Christopher Coffey, Allen Coffey and Alice Coffey but does not include ages, addresses or booking numbers in the provided material. The WCNC excerpt also includes this separate sentence: "Nicolas Yarcil Uribe-Tamayo, 26, of Easley, S.C., was sentenced this week. He pleaded guilty in November 2024." The supplied WCNC text does not explain whether Uribe-Tamayo is connected to the March incident.

Key factual items remain to be verified with public records and law-enforcement sources. Reporters should confirm the incident date and clock time from Burke County Sheriff's Office dispatch logs or the incident report; determine which Dollar General was involved (Frank Whisnant Road or the 2000 block of Hartland Road) by checking dispatch CAD entries and the store address; obtain booking records for Christopher, Allen and Alice Coffey to verify ages, addresses, arrest dates, case numbers and the exact statutory language of the charges; and request the dispatch audio and any available surveillance footage that would corroborate vehicle description, number of occupants, pepper spray use and the stabbing allegation.

Court dockets should be checked for arraignment dates and filings, and the Sheriff's Office public information officer contacted for an official incident report and any additional public statements about weapons recovered, victim status updates, or outstanding warrants.