By David Fleet
Editor

On Oct. 10, Charles Gamble II was found guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and assault and battery in connection with the Oct. 7, 2016 attack on a woman and her son on a cross country trail located behind Oaktree Elementary School, 7500 Gale Road in Atlas Township.
Gamble, 41, is also charged separately in an assault that took place one week earlier on a female jogger in the Davison Regional Park. There is no trial date set in that case at this time.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton was pleased with the verdicts. “The jury listened carefully to the evidence and returned the verdicts we requested,” said Leyton.

According to police reports, Gamble, 41, came out from behind a tree and attacked the women. The victim’s 7-year old son, who was running behind his mother, began screaming at the alleged assailant who fled the scene.
The testimony during the trial revealed Gamble laid in wait and assaulted the victims causing facial bone fractures and other injuries.
The woman’s 11-year-old daughter was also nearby but was unharmed.
Sheriff investigators believe Gamble cased the area near the Goodrich Middle School the night before. Security footage from the Goodrich Middle School caught the suspect leaving the area in a black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV with oversized, chrome, after-market rims and a carrier rack.
Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said that on Oct. 12, 2016 deputies pulled over a vehicle matching the description of the SUV on M-15 near Horton Road in Atlas Township. Gamble was held for questioning and his SUV was searched by investigators. He was released about 3:30 a.m , but his SUV was retained and a warrant was obtained by the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office.
Investigators found Gamble changed the rims of the vehicle a day after the attack in Atlas Township. The chrome rims were found in garbage bags in Gamble’s garage. Cell phone records also showed he was near the scene of both attacks around the time of the assaults.
Gamble will be sentenced Nov. 13, before the Honorable Archie L. Hayman.