Leah Buletti

lbuletti@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - A Buncombe County grand jury has brought new charges against a city man investigators believe intentionally caused traffic accidents and misreported them to insurance agencies.

Byron Benson Fulghum Jr., 26, of Sand Hill Road, has been indicted on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of injury to personal property, and two counts of reckless driving to endanger.

The new charges state Fulghum used a 2007 Ford Focus to assault another person and also cause $200 in damage to a 2013 Chrysler on Dec. 2, 2014.

He's also accused of using a 2012 Ford Focus to assault another person and cause more than $200 in damage to a 2000 Honda CRV on Feb. 9.

Fulghum previously was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of injury to personal property and two counts of reckless driving in connection with wrecks in 2015, according to court records.

On July 16, he was charged with six counts of felony insurance fraud, according to arrest warrants.

Asheville police detective Travis Barkley began investigating Fulghum in March and determined by studying his driver history that he had been involved in 14 wrecks in Buncombe County since July 2012, according to an earlier search warrant.

Detectives viewed dash-cam video and determined Fulghum was intentionally striking the other vehicles. A video dash-cam was installed in Fulghum's Ford Focus, according to the warrant.

The insurance fraud charges, filed by the N.C. Department of Insurance, allege Fulghum submitted claims between December 2014 and March 2015 to his own insurance company and to insurance providers for the other drivers that contained "false and misleading information," according to the warrants.

An investigator with the N.C. Department of Insurance on Friday said no further insurance fraud charges are pending.

District Attorney Todd Williams said the case remains pending.

Police: Asheville man deliberately caused wrecks