By Shavonne Potts

shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A Salisbury man who is accused of running over a deputy’s foot and dragging another with his vehicle during a confrontation with the officers has received a reduced bond, jail records show.

Stavros Evangelos Feredinos, 29, was issued a $2 million bond earlier this week, but Friday morning that bond had been reduced to $500,000.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office had charged Feredinos with two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious bodily injury; one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official; two counts of misdemeanor resist; obstruct, delay an officer; and one count of felony fleeing to elude arrest.

Feredinos told deputies his strange behavior was because he was “cooped up because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rowan County Sheriff’s officials said this week. He also nearly hit a Stanly County deputy with his car.

The incident stemmed from a chase in which the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office in the vicinity of Panther Creek and Bringle Ferry roads in the eastern part of the county.

While deputies conducted traffic control in the 11000 block of Bringle Ferry Road, an individual came out of his residence and began behaving erratically, drawing the attention of two sheriff’s deputies. A news release said the deputies believed the individual might be having mental issues or impaired. Feredinos was eventually identified as that individual.

Feredinos drove down his driveway in a silver 2019 Volkswagen Jetta SEL to a mailbox. He got out of the car and began singing, making hand gestures towards the two deputies and then dropped his pants, displaying his butt. Feredinos then returned to his vehicle and began backing up in the driveway, at which time Sgt. Jagger Naves and Master Deputy Dalton Miller stopped him. When questioned by deputies about his actions, Feredinos complained that he had been cooped up for 30 days due to the pandemic and apologized for his behavior.

Feredinos made repeated attempts to get back into the car to retrieve an item, which led to a physical confrontation with the two deputies.

Naves and Miller used a Taser to get Feredinos under control but were unsuccessful.

The two deputies were stuck between the open driver’s door and the driver’s seat. According to the sheriff’s office, Feredinos began backing up his vehicle again. Miller was dragged 60 feet on his back and hit his head on the driveway, knocking him unconscious. Naves’ foot was injured when Feredinos ran over it with the vehicle.

Miller was believed to have suffered a concussion and Naves was not seriously injured, said Sheriff’s Capt. John Sifford.

A Stanly County deputy was nearly struck by the Jetta as it was fleeing the front yard of the residence. A news release said the deputy discharged his service weapon and struck the left rear tire of the Jetta. The Jetta then traveled approximately 3.5 miles east on Bringle Ferry Road into Davidson County, where it was stopped by Stanly and Rowan deputies.

Feredinos allegedly tossed some marijuana drug paraphernalia out of the window, some of which was recovered.