2 arrested for false imprisonment, battery of East Cobb woman

Cobb Police said a 66-year-old woman was the victim of battery and false imprisonment at her home in East Cobb last week, including having her hands tied behind her back with a cable wire, and have arrested her daughter and another man.

Jenica Bratton, 22, and Matthew Hurlebaus, 21, were booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Dec. 23, and both remain in custody on bonds of $7,920 and $8,470, respectively, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

UPDATED, SATURDAY, Jan. 2: Bratton has bonded out of jail; Hurlebaus remains in custody.

They’re facing felony charges of false imprisonment and exploitation and intimidation of elderly and disabled persons.

Bratton, whose booking report indicates she is homeless, also has been charged with a misdemeanor charge of battery and a felony charge of drug possession.

According to Bratton’s arrest warrant, Bratton was at her mother’s home on Housely Road on the afternoon of Dec. 23 and got into a verbal altercation with the older woman that turned violent.

Bratton then ordered her to an upstairs area of a shed on the property, binding her mother’s arms behind her back with a cable wire, according to the warrant.

The warrant said Hurlebaus persuaded Bratton to unbind the mother while he watched her.

According to Hurlebaus’ warrant, the older woman tried fleeing the area, but he blocked an exit to the shed, preventing her from escaping.

The older woman suffered multiple small lacerations around her mouth and chin, according to Bratton’s warrant, as well as bruises on her left wrist from the cable.

Bratton and Hurlebaus were later arrested at his home on Post Oak Tritt Road, and she also was found to be in possession of Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone pills, according to her warrant.