‘It’s like watching a horror movie;’ Man accused of gouging out eyes of security guard indicted

DAYTON — The Springfield man who allegedly attacked a 66-year-old security guard and firefighters in Dayton earlier this month is facing a dozen criminal charges.

A Montgomery County grand jury indicted James Fickling, 25, on various counts of felonious assault, kidnapping, attempt to commit felonious assault, assault on a firefighter, assault on a police officer, obstructing official business, inducing panic, and menacing, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr. announced Tuesday.

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As News Center 7 previously reported, Fickling is accused of a gruesome attack on Oct. 21. Heck confirmed that investigators believe he was high on drugs when he walked into the Premier Health Building on N. Main Street and stripped off all his clothes except his shirt and pulled the fire alarm.

“This defendant, high on drugs, has forever altered the life of an upstanding 66-year-old security guard,” Heck said, noting they believe he was on both fentanyl and heroin.

During the attack, he allegedly knocked the security guard, identified by her daughter as Gloria Courtney, unconscious by “striking her 8 times in the face with jumping knee strikes.” He then allegedly gouged out one of her eyes and damaged the other, leaving her permanently blind.

A large portion of the attack was caught on surveillance video.

“It’s like watching a horror movie,” Heck said Tuesday.

Heck went on to call it “one of the worst” he’s ever seen.

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The attack was interrupted because Dayton firefighters responded to the alarm.

Police said Fickling attacked them, hitting them and trying to dig his fingers into one firefighter’s eye socket. That firefighter suffered a scratched cornea.

Firefighters called police, and Fickling is also accused of biting one officer in the leg.

Fickling is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He’ll appear in court next on Nov. 2.

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