Newport Man Charged With Assaulting Grandmother

A Newport man is in jail after allegedly attacking his grandmother. 71 year old Donna Cross says she had taken her daughter to an apartment on Blue Ridge Way to get some of the daughter’s belongings. Cross says her daughter had been staying at the apartment with her grandson, 29 year old Adam Akard, but the two had been arguing and she had let her daughter stay with her.

Cross says when she entered the apartment, there was glass all over the floor and a tv and computer were also lying in the floor. When she asked Akard what had happened, Akard said with an expletive that it was none of her business. That’s when Cross says Akard grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the floor. Cross says she has had multiple back surgeries and was fearful that Akard would seriously injurer her. She was able to get out of the apartment and get to her car to call 911.

According to police, Akard told officers that his mother had come into the apartment and hit him with a broom while he was sleeping. He says that he acted against her in self-defense. Akard says he was upset from being hit by the broom and that is why he destroyed the apartment.

Akard never acknowledged to police that his grandmother was in the apartment. He is charged with Aggravated Assault and Abuse of an Elderly or Vulnerable Adult.