Minister attacked during church celebration

A Sampson County minister was slashed across the chest on Saturday when he confronted a suspected vandal during a church celebration, authorities said.

The Rev. Willie James Jr., pastor of St. James Disciples of Christ Church on Delway Highway, was preparing food for a Family and Friends Day cookout at the church when someone told him a man was slashing the tires of vehicles in the church parking lot, authorities said.

The man was an acquaintance of James' daughter, authorities said, and he cut James with a knife when the minister approached him and asked him to stop vandalizing the cars, authorities said.

William Henry Carr Jr., 25, of Rose Hill, was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

Carr has a criminal record dating to 2003, with convictions for breaking and entering and larceny, according to state Department of Correction records.