Two members of Max Fitness have been arrested after deputies say they violently attacked another woman outside the Augusta gym last month.
According to a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office incident report, 38-year-old Charlene Carmen Graham of Grovetown was charged with battery, while 34-year-old Natascha Eve Echols of Beech Island, S.C., was charged with aggravated assault.
The incident happened April 27 outside the Max Fitness location on Bobby Jones Expressway. Investigators said the 26-year-old victim told a friend that she felt she was being harassed by the two women. What sparked the dispute remains unclear.
The woman later walked outside, but deputies said Graham and Echols followed her outside, where the confrontation quickly escalated into violence.
According to the report, Graham pushed the victim in the face, causing her to fall to the ground. While she was down, deputies say Graham struck her over the left eye with a steel water bottle, leaving her bleeding from a deep cut. Investigators said Echols then began kicking and hitting the woman until a male witness intervened and stopped the attack.
The victim, who deputies noted was several inches shorter and significantly lighter than both suspects, suffered a two-inch laceration above her eye. She was taken by ambulance to Wellstar MCG Health, where she received stitches. The victim told authorities that she had previous issues with Graham, and that one of the suspects made rude comments about her on April 27.
A witness sitting in a nearby vehicle reportedly recorded the assault on video after hearing yelling and seeing a crowd gather. The witness also provided deputies with the suspects’ license plate number.
Max Fitness manager Sophia Mollohan told deputies she witnessed the altercation and requested that Graham be formally trespassed from the business.
Graham was arrested when she later returned to the gym. Echols was arrested May 4. Jail records show both women have since been released after posting cash bonds.