ST. GEORGE – A 30-year-old man, Marco Dunigan, already in custody at Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility on other charges, was place under arrest again for an incident that occurred Sept. 10, 2013, at his St. George residence on the 2600 block of East 175 North, in which he allegedly pistol whipped a man causing serious injury to the man’s face.

Dunigan held a man and a woman at gunpoint outside of his residence in September 2013 and threatened to kill them, according to Washington County Drug Task Force Officer Michael Koester in his probable cause statement supporting the arrest. He then proceeded to “pistol whip” the man in the face with a handgun, causing serious external facial damage, including a fractured eye socket.

After the initial assault took place outside of the residence, the assault continued inside of Dunigan’s garage and living areas where Dunigan “waved the gun around” and continued to assault the man “all over,” Koester said in his statement. Dunigan then demanded that the man and woman hide in a room inside of the residence where they were later located by a family member and transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George after contacting police.

The case was inactive for several months after the original St. George Police detective on the case was deployed overseas. Koester requested the case be reopened and assigned to him after conducting an interview with the alleged male victim on an unrelated case.

“They described Marco Dunigan as a very violent subject and expressed a great deal of concern for themselves and the other victim,” Koester said. “The victim wanted something to be done about the assault incident.”

This isn’t the first time Dunigan has had a run-in with the law. He has faced charges that include possession of a stolen vehicle, weapons, and drugs, assault against a police officer, failure to stop at an officer’s command, and theft.

Dunigan was already incarcerated in the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility at the time the new charges were brought; the new charges include one third-degree felony for aggravated assault involving a dangerous weapon and a second-degree felony for aggravated assault involving a dangerous weapon and resulting in serious bodily injury. Bail of $15,000 has been added for the new charges.

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