A woman Cobb Police said was injured in a pedestrian crash in a carpool lane at Brumby Elementary School in April has been charged with reckless conduct.
Shumeka Lana Johnson, 35, was hospitalized after the April 22 incident when a minor behind the wheel of her Chrysler Pacifica accidentally put the vehicle into drive, according to the initial police report.
Johnson had left the vehicle for an unknown reason, police said at the time, when it struck “and landed on top of her,” then went into reverse and crashed into a parked, unoccupied car.
In a warrant filed last week, police said that Johnson “did endanger the bodily safety” of her minor daughter, who was operating the vehicle.
“The vehicle did not have an adult inside the vehicle but was occupied by 2 juvenile siblings, ages 4 years old and 6 months old,” according to the warrant, which said that the 13-year-old “accelerated the vehicle forward,” striking Johnson and with the vehicle’s front right tire landing on her.
The warrant alleges that Johnson engaged in a misdemeanor act of reckless conduct “by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that her act or omission would endanger the safety of said person and such disregard constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would have exercised in the situation.”
The following day at a Cobb Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale commented on the incident, saying that Johnson was “seriously injured” and that it was a “miracle” and that while she is recovering, “it’s a long road ahead.”
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Cobb Police said Saturday that a man pulled over for a traffic stop near Osborne High School was shot and killed by police after pulling out a weapon against officers as he tried escape the scene.
It’s the second fatal officer-involved shooting involving Cobb Police in the last two weeks.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the suspect as Gregory Hill Jr., 43, of Austell, and said that an autopsy will be performed by the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office.
Sgt. Eric Smith of Cobb Police said that after 10:20 p.m. Friday, police attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a Cadillac SUV that was “being driven recklessly” on Windy Hill Road at Osborne Court.
The driver tried to flee, and the vehicle overturned and crashed near a residence, with the suspect refusing to exit, according to police.
Smith said that the driver began firing a weapon and officers responded by firing their service weapons.
The GBI said in a release that police backed away from the Cadillac and the Cobb Police SWAT team was called as the suspect was barricaded in the vehicle.
According to the GBI, police tried to negotiate with the driver for an hour and a half to come out, and then Hill “displayed a gun.”
The driver tried to flee the SUV and was showing his weapon, and “an officer involved shooting occurred. The driver was struck by gunfire and was beyond lifesaving measures,” Smith said, adding that no officers were injured.
The GBI said that Hill was shot at least once, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
The GBI is investigating the incident and will turn over its review to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
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Cobb Police said the suspect was taken into custody in Cherokee County and the victim remains hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
Officer Joseph Wilson said Bashir Beal, 47, of Acworth, is facing charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Beal has been booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
An arrest warrant for Beal alleges that he “shot the victim several times using a firearm,” specifically a pistol.
Wilson said Kenneth Taylor, 57, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is being treated at North Fulton Hospital.
Wilson said Cobb Police reviewed real-time camera footage to identify Beal’s vehicle, a gold SUV, as it headed toward Cherokee County.
The warrant and police statements have not indicated what may have led to the shooting.
Wilson said the investigation continues and anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb Police Major Crimes Unit.
Original post, Wednesday, 1:33 p.m.:
Cobb Police said Wednesday someone in a vehicle who was shot by a driver in another vehicle at a major intersection in Northeast Cobb has been taken to a hospital.
Cobb Police said on its Facebook page shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday that the condition of the unidentified victim is unknown.
The social media message said that the incident took place on Woodstock Road near the intersection of Mabry Road, in the vicinity of the Sandy Plains Village shopping center.
It’s also near the boundary between Cobb County and the city of Roswell.
Cobb Police said officers were called to the area at around 11:13 a.m., after receiving reports of a driver firing shots at another vehicle “during an apparent road rage incident.”
Police said both vehicles continued through the intersection, and the vehicle with the person who had been shot stopped inside Roswell city limits.
According to Roswell Police, the victim was found at Highway 92 (Woodstock Road) and Laurel Lake Drive in Roswell and was conscious and alert.
The victim was rendered medical aid there and then taken to an unnamed hospital, according to police.
“Preliminary information indicates that the individual was shot in Cobb County before driving into Roswell. Their police department has assumed the investigation,” Roswell Police said.
Cobb Police had no further information, including the whereabouts of the suspected shooter, but said it is continuing to investigate.
“Significant traffic delays are expected in the area as investigators continue processing the scene,” Cobb Police said.
“Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area and utilize alternate routes whenever possible. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.”
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Cobb Police said Wednesday that a suspected shoplifter shot by police at Town Center Mall has died.
Sgt. Eric Smith said in a release that the suspect’s identification is being withheld pending notification of kin.
Smith said Cobb Police responded to reports of a shoplifting in progress at the mall around 2 p.m. Wednesday, and the suspect fled on foot in the retail center’s parking lot.
Smith said the suspect produced a handgun while being pursued by police, “and the officer discharged his service weapon.”
Police provided medical aid to the suspect, who was taken to a hospital in serious condition, and he later was pronounced dead, according to Smith.
Smith said no officers were injured, and Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell issued the following statement:
“This incident is understandably concerning for our community, and our thoughts remain with all those affected. We are thankful that no officers were injured and remain committed to transparency and a thorough, independent review as the process moves forward.”
The investigation into the shooting will be handled by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which will turn over its findings to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office for review.
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Cobb Police last week charged a man in East Cobb with a number of sex crimes involving a minor, some of which are alleged to have taken place over more than a decade.
According to an arrest warrant, Efren Olguin Vega is facing two felony counts of rape, one felony count of child molestation and two felony counts of incest.
The warrant, which was taken out on Thursday, alleges that the suspect began sexually assaulting a female minor at a home off Old Mountain Park Road, near the Cobb-Fulton line, starting in September 2015.
The warrant states that three of the charges stemmed from an incident early on the morning of last Sunday, May 10 and involved an act of sexual intercourse with the victim “against her will” in the kitchen of the residence.
Vega also is charged with one count of felony sodomy, as he “manipulated and intimidated said victim to get on her knees and perform oral sex on him,” according to the warrant.
There isn’t any Cobb Sheriff’s Office information available on whether Vega has been taken into custody. East Cobb News has contacted the Cobb Sheriff’s Office seeking more information.
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Cobb Police on Monday identified the suspect as William F. Peake, 29, and the victim of the homicide as Lorrie Peake, 71, his mother. Sgt. Eric Smith said that they were both residents of the home and that the next of kin have been identified.
Cobb Police said Sunday that a suspect holed up inside a home in Northeast Cobb is dead, as well as another person inside the residence, following a day-long standoff that included an officer-involved shooting.
Officer Aaron Wilson said in a release that two unidentified individuals were found dead inside a residence on Vandiver Drive, off Sandy Plains Road and near Ebenezer Road, on Sunday afternoon.
They believe the suspect, who earlier was shot at by officers after opening fire on them, took his own life. Police did not say how the other person died.
Wilson said that police were called to the home, located on Vandiver Drive near Rainwater Drive, around 8:30 a.m. Sunday on a welfare check, after family members said they were concerned about someone there they had not heard from.
Officers first called to the scene tried to make contact with a male they spotted inside the home but were unsuccessful, according to Wilson, who said that after continuing those efforts, police were able to secure a search warrant.
Police said that shortly after 11 a.m. a gunshot was heard inside the home, but officers did not respond.
Wilson said the Cobb Police SWAT team was called and employed a drone to locate those inside the home. A male was seen on the drone camera with a gun, and officers tried again to contact him, according to police.
The man did not respond, according do Wilson, who said the Cobb Police crisis negotiations team was called to the scene, but to no avail.
At one point, the suspect fired at officers and they returned fire, according to Wilson.
“The suspect appeared to be wounded, and communication continued until the suspect took their own life,” Wilson said.
He said that when officers got inside the home, they saw two people who were deceased.
Wilson said that Cobb Police Major Crimes Unit is conducting a death investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate the officer-involved shooting.
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A severe drought has resulted in wildfires in South Georgia and has caused haze in some areas of metro Atlanta.
Those conditions prompted the Cobb Fire Marshal on Wednesday to issue an outdoor burning ban “until further notice.”
Cobb Fire and Emergency Services referenced a county ordinance that authorizes the fire marshal “to ban any or all forms of outdoor burning when atmospheric or local conditions make outdoor fires hazardous.
“All outdoor burning is prohibited during this time to help reduce fire risk and to protect our community. We appreciate your cooperation in helping keep Cobb County safe.”
The ban comes a week before the statewide outdoor burning ban that takes place each year from May 1-Sept. 30. During that period, “you may burn limited yard debris such as leaves, pine straw, and small limbs from growth on your property.”
The lack of rain has caused wildfires in southern Georgia, which has been under a general burn ban. More than 16,000 acres of have burned and Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency for that part of the state.
Almost all of Georgia has been experiencing drought in the spring. Rain is in the forecast for Cobb County early next week, as dry, low-humidity weather continues.
State officials predict they’ll be able to contain the south Georgia wildfires by the end of May.
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Two brothers are being held without bond after they got into a physical altercation Wednesday in front of a home in an East Cobb neighborhood.
Warrants for Franklin Dayne Hudson, 33, and Kyle Robert Hudson, 30, said they have been charged with felony counts of aggravated assault, and misdemeanor charges of fighting in a public place and criminal trespass.
The warrants state that the incident took place Wednesday morning at a home on Ridgetree Drive in the Sentinel Lake subdivision.
Franklin Hudson is accused of hitting his brother’s motorcycle with a baseball bat after a verbal argument about money, and then throwing the bat in Kyle Hudson’s direction, according to the warrants.
Kyle Hudson is accused of throwing a crowbar at Franklin Hudson, and his vehicle.
The warrants state that “the situation escalated and got physical. The Physical altercation happened on the roadway” in front of the Ridgetree Lane home.
The warrants said the motorcycle’s tail lights and exhausts were damaged in the incident.
Both men were booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Wednesday night, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
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Cobb Police on Monday arrested a woman for prostitution near Wheeler High School and also charged her with two counts of bribery for offering officers sexual favors in exchange for releasing her.
According to an arrest warrant, Zulibeth Sarai Worsley, with an address listed at Harold Dean Drive in Northeast Cobb, was walking northbound along Holt Road near the Wheeler campus around 8:20 a.m. on Monday with a “lewd appearance,” topless and with her pants partially down, exposing her breasts and buttocks.
When Cobb Police arrived, officers said she told them she was “offering services to get money for a place to stay and that it was legal for her to do so.”
After she was charged with prostitution, according to the warrant, the woman said she told the officers she would perform oral sex for them if they let her go.
Worsley was charged with misdemeanor counts of prostitution and public indecency and two felony counts of bribery offering benefit to a representative of state or political subdivision.
She was taken into custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center later Monday and remains there on a $3,520 bond, according to her Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking report.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday that Cobb Police shot and killed a man who led them on a manhunt Tuesday after they tried to serve him with an arrest warrant for murder.
The GBI said in a release Wednesday that Damian Strozier, 31, was located by Cobb SWAT officers around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in the woods behind an apartment complex on Leland Drive near Windy Hill Road and Interstate 75, not far from the site of the initial confrontation.
The GBI said that several officers shot at Strozier, “hitting him multiple times. Strozier was pronounced dead on scene.”
Strozier had been wanted by Atlanta Police for hitting a female pedestrian with a motor scooter last month and who later died at a hospital.
Cobb Police were trying to serve the warrant Tuesday morning when they said Strozier aimed a gun at them, and an offer shot at him in response.
Strozier managed to flee the scene on foot, and police issued a warning to the public and blocked off the area for several hours.
Police said no officers were injured.
The GBI said it will conduct a full investigation into the incident, since it is officer-involved, and turn its report over to the Cobb District Attorney for review.
Updated 10:15 pm Tuesday:
Cobb Police said Tuesday night that the suspect has been “located” and there is no longer a threat to the public, but they offered no further details.
UPDATED REPORT:
Cobb Police have identified the fugitive suspect as Damian Strozier, 31, and issued a mug shot as they continue their manhunt for him.
He is wanted for murder and likely escaped on foot after officers tried to serve a warrant in the area of Leland Road and Windy Hill Road.
Police said the suspect pointed his gun at an officer, who shot at him.
Strozier is described by police as a black male, 5-foot-6 and 135 pounds.
Police said Strozier “should be considered armed and dangerous. If you see this individual, do not approach. Call 911 immediately.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Cobb Police said Tuesday afternoon that a suspect they tried to serve with a murder warrant got away after an officer shot at him in the Windy Hill Road area near Interstate 75.
Police said that the suspect, who was not identified, fled on foot around 1 p.m. in the area of Leland Road and Windy Hill Road after an armed confrontation.
In a social media posting, Cobb Police said that the suspect pointed his weapon at an officer, who returned fire.
But the suspect got away, and “there is a significant law enforcement presence to locate him. No officers were injured.”
Police are asking the public to avoid the area and to seek alternate traffic routes. Anyone with information about the incident or who sees “suspicious persons or activity” in the area is asked to call Cobb County 911.
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Cobb Police said Monday they’ve arrested a man they say tried to run down an officer on Terrell Mill Road, and who fled the scene after an officer shot at his vehicle.
Sgt. Eric Smith said that Quartavious Z. Greene, 40, who has an East Cobb address, is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
According to his booking report, Greene was taken into custody on Thursday.
He is charged with felony counts of aggravated assault on an officer, two counts of interference with government property and misdemeanor counts of willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer and improper stopping on a roadway.
Police said that officers were called to the intersection of Terrell Mill Road and Brookview Drive—the entrance to the Terrell Mill Estates subdivision—around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, April 12, in response to to a report of a driver asleep in a black Mercedes SUV.
Greene’s arrest warrant stated that the vehicle “was stopped long enough to raise the concern of a nearby citizen prompting them to call 911.”
When they arrived, officers saw a driver asleep inside the vehicle, according to police, and they placed a patrol car in front of the Mercedes, which was flanked at the back by a parked fire truck.
But police said that as officers woke up the driver, he refused to follow repeated commands to come out of the Mercedes.
According to the warrant, the suspect “reversed his vehicle into a parked firetruck before accelerating it towards” one of the officers “in a manner which was likely to or could actually result in serious bodily injury or death.”
Police said in their release last week that an officer fired at the vehicle, and it was unclear whether the suspect had been hit.
Greene’s warrant states that the Mercedes struck a police car as it fled the scene. Officers followed on a brief pursuit southbound on Terrell Mill Road, but they lost contact.
Smith said Monday that the incident remains under investigation by the Cobb Police Major Crimes Unit and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, since it involves an officer-involved shooting.
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Cobb Fire and Emergency Services is investigating a house fire that broke out early Friday morning in a subdivision off Johnson Ferry Roa.
The fire took place at a home on Savannah Ridge Drive, in the Savannah Ridge subdivision, located close to Cobb Fire Station 15.
Lt. Stephen Bennett of Cobb Fire said that the fire likely started in a bedroom and spread into the attic.
He said that crews arrived on the scene and put out the fire before it spread through the rest of the home and conducted search efforts.
“The fire was controlled and all residents were outside of the home prior to our arrival,” he said, adding that there were no reports of injuries to residents or firefighters.
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A Marietta man is being held without bond for the attempted murder of a woman at a home in East Cobb last week.
An arrest warrant for William Hensley, whose home address is listed on Franklin Gateway in Marietta, said he is facing felony charges of aggravated assault with intent to murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, burglary and other charges.
According to the warrant, Hensley went to a home in the Heritage Glen subdivision in East Cobb on the evening of April 5, gaining access with a copy of a house key without the permission of a woman who resides there.
He then held the woman against her will, tying her hands and legs together and holding her on a bedroom floor, according to the warrant.
Cobb Police the suspect also placed tape over her mouth, “placed a belt around her neck, and made threats to kill and cut said victim up into pieces by using a large kitchen knife” that he was holding.
According to the warrant, the victim had multiple lacerations to her head and multiple markings on her forearm and legs.
The warrant states that Hensley also was charged with misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence, loiter prowl, and sexual battery. The Cobb Sheriff’s Office said Hensley was taken into custody the following day, April 6, at his Franklin Gateway residence.
A bond hearing has been set for Hensley for May 6, according to the Cobb Magistrate Court Clerk’s Office.
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Cobb Police said Sunday they’re looking for a suspect who got away during an early-morning incident on Terrell Mill Road after he tried to run down an officer.
Sgt. Eric Smith said that an officer shot at the suspect’s vehicle after police were called to Terrell Mill Road and Brookview Drive around 5:45 a.m. Sunday.
Smith said they were responding to a report of a driver asleep in a black Mercedes SUV at the intersection, which is the entrance to the Terrell Mill Estates subdivision.
He said officers saw a driver asleep inside the vehicle, and they placed a patrol car in front of the Mercedes; a fire apparatus was already behind the vehicle.
But as officers tried to wake up the driver, he refused to follow their commands, and the Mercedes collided with both of the other vehicles, according to Smith.
The driver then drove toward an officer, who returned fire, striking the Mercedes, according to Smith, who said that “it is unknown whether the driver was struck by gunfire.”
He said the Mercedes fled southbound on Terrell Mill Road, but police lost contact after a brief pursuit.
Smith said police don’t have an identity of the driver, and that the Cobb Police Major Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate.
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The Cobb Sheriff’s Office has just issued the following statement:
“Despite extensive efforts by deputies and assisting agencies, the suspect was not located during today’s search. Law enforcement personnel are now concluding the active search in the immediate area and will regroup to continue investigative efforts at a later time.
“While this search generated public attention due to its proximity to a college campus, situations like this occur more frequently than many realize and are typically resolved without the need for public notification. Out of an abundance of caution, information was shared earlier today to ensure the campus community and surrounding residents were aware of the law enforcement activity.
“At this time, there is no known danger to the public.”
ORIGINAL REPORT, 3:50 P.M.
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday it’s searching for a man wanted on a domestic violence warrant near the Kennesaw State University campus.
Jessie Santiago
Public information officer Hassan Glenn said the suspect is Jessie Santiago, 26, and whose photo was distributed Tuesday afternoon as the manhunt continues.
Hassan said that deputies recognized the suspect from an active domestic violence warrant near KSU and although they weren’t serving a warrant at the time, they tried to take him into custody after identifying him.
Hassan said that when deputies approached the suspect, he fled on foot, and that the Sheriff’s Office is working with KSU police and Cobb Police to locate Santiago.
“Residents are urged to remain alert and use caution as law enforcement patrol the area,” Hassan said in a statement. “Please stay aware of your surroundings and avoid approaching the individual.”
Anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts is asked to call Cobb County Sheriff’s Office at (770) 499-4600 or submit a tip through the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office mobile app.
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A man charged with threatening to kill a woman during a domestic violence incident at an East Cobb home last week is being held without bail.
Thomas Joe Garza, 51, was charged last Friday with a felony count of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespass damage, according to an arrest warrant.
The warrant said that the incident happened at a home on Tritt Springs Trace on March 26, and that the female victim said Garza repeatedly slammed her head to the floor and against a metal pole in a closet, while threatening to kill them both and trying to locate a gun.
According to the warrant, the woman suffered heavy bruising to the left side of her face, as well as to her left ear, and could not hear out of it.
“The victim did have clear fluid coming from her ear that the attending physician described as Cerebrospinal fluid which is typically due to trauma to the spinal cord,” according to the warrant.
The warrant also states that Garza threw a laptop computer to the floor during the incident and destroyed it.
He was taken into custody at the home and is at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The warrant states that Garza and the woman are domestic partners, but his booking sheet listed him as homeless.
Cobb Magistrate Court Clerk’s Office records show him living at an address on Roswell Road in East Cobb for this arrest and on a previous warrant for another domestic violence charge in 2010.
He is listed as living at the Tritt Springs Trace address in a separate 2008 domestic violence arrest.
Court records are not available for those previous cases.
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The only kind of mug shot you’ll see on East Cobb News. Why is that? Read our explainer below.
As part of our continuing effort to help the public understand why we do things the way we do, East Cobb News is running a short feature on an occasional basis that will give you a better understanding of what goes behind some of our news coverage.
It’s called East Cobb News Explainer, and we’ll start with a subject that we hear from readers about quite a bit: Crime incidents.
What we publish about those incidents, arrests, indictments and trials comes from a variety of sources: what police and prosecutors send/tell us, what readers ask us to check out and what we look into on a deeper level, beyond an arrest warrant or press release.
The availability of public records has been a factor in this coverage as well, especially with online access more commonplace to the general public.
East Cobb News has a few policies that guide our coverage that we want to stress to our readers: We do not publish mug shots based on early crime reports, and in publishing information about an incident or arrest, we attribute where we get that information.
The only exceptions are in the case of a suspect at-large whom law enforcement considers a serious threat to public safety. Those instances are rare.
This is important to clarify because of the principle of due process: Anyone charged with any crime, or who is even issued a traffic ticket, is presumed innocent. It is up to the state to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A charge or an arrest isn’t an admission of anything; it’s a claim that has to be proven in court.
In the days before online media, newspapers and TV stations routinely ran mug shots of just about anyone arrested for a crime—many of those outlets still do, including in metro Atlanta.
But our policy at East Cobb News is to refrain from publishing mug shots unless or until someone accused of a crime is convicted or pleads guilty and is sentenced.
We can get mug shots with a simple open records request, but with the advent of “mug shot mills” in the digital age, that’s content that’s easily abused. Some years ago the Georgia legislature passed a law banning local jails from posting mug shots on their websites.
Unscrupulous entities scarf up those mug shots, post them on their sites and then extort the suspects who want the photos taken down—at a steep price. Images live forever online, and that was the understandable rationale behind that prohibition.
Unfortunately, state lawmakers are using that to justify a bill now in the Georgia General Assembly that would further limit public information about crime incidents in their communities.
“When a person requests a booking photograph, he or she shall request such photograph by identifying the first and last name of the individual in the photograph and submit a notarized statement affirming that the use of such photograph is in compliance with subsection (c) of this Code section.”
The underline there is mine. This provision also would apply to body camera footage, content that is all the rage in our video-obsessed time and which police gladly post on their own social media channels when it’s favorable to them.
This proposal goes too far, and The Augusta Press gets it right in this editorial arguing why this is not a good bill. It’s worrisome to think about what might be next.
Citizens have a right to know whom their law enforcement agencies are arresting, charging, indicting and trying and why. Go after the mug shot grifters, to be sure, but don’t prevent the broad public from knowing via responsible media outlets.
In Sandy Springs, city officials are being sued by a local news organization for refusing to produce full crime incident reports and other public records in a case that has dragged on for nearly three years.
Even in Cobb County, basic arrest warrants that we see sometimes have scant information. In responding to our request for information last week on a carjacking incident, Cobb Police issued only a brief statement, saying they had no suspects.
When we followed up to ask if they had a description of the suspect(s) and the car that was stolen, they didn’t respond, nor did they explain why they didn’t let the public know that there’s an alleged carjacker on the loose.
It’s important to treat all these cases with care, and when we publish a report like the above, we attribute everything to the source. We can’t, and don’t, take something someone else sees on social media, or hears through the grapevine, and just slap it on our site.
We have to verify it first, and publish only what we know to be true. It’s easy to assume guilt, and police have to conduct their investigations.
What to publish about crime reports and how has always been a delicate balance, and drawing that line is becoming more difficult.
Please reach out to us to explain how we give you East Cobb News. E-mail us at [email protected].
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A social work case manager at a Veterans Administration clinic in Jasper was laid to rest on Sunday.
Nicolas James “Nic” Crews, of East Cobb, was 34 when he was shot on Tuesdayby a man p0lice said had come for a walk-in mental health consultation.
Crews, who was a husband and father of three young children, died on Wednesday after being taken to a trauma hospital.
The suspect who escaped the clinic, Charles Michels, 51, of Jasper, was later and shot and killed by local police in a shootout in the clinic’s parking lot, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting an investigation.
At Crews’ funeral on Sunday at the North River Church in Marietta, he was recalled by a friend as having “loved people so much, I’m not shocked by how many people, the outpouring of love that we’ve seen from the community, from immediate friends and family. It just speaks to who Nic was.”
Crews was called to the social work profession through his religious convictions, according to his obituary.
He earned a history degree from Kennesaw State University and led a campus ministry while earning a master’s degree in social work at the University of Tennessee.
On one such hike, it began to snow, and Cody Porter said Crews urged them to pray out loud.
“He was going to draw out the heart of whoever he was with, and he was going to infuse you with faith, hope and love,” Porter told the TV station.
“I one hundred percent know that Nic died doing what he was called to do by God,” Porter said.
The National Association of Social Workers of Georgia issued a statement Friday:
“This loss also reinforces a broader truth: social workers must be supported, protected, and invested in at every level. The profession continues to give so much to individuals, families, and communities, often under challenging and under-resourced conditions. Ensuring fair compensation, safe working conditions, and strong systemic support is not optional; it is necessary.”
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An East Cobb resident who runs a medical diagnostics lab in the Cumberland area is facing three felony counts of Medicaid fraud.
Maged Ahmad Awad has been indicted by a Cobb Superior Court grand jury on three counts of medical assistance fraud, according to court records.
The records show that Awad was indicted on Feb. 26 for allegedly receiving payments from the Georgia Medicaid system in “amounts greater than entitled” for genetic screening tests after “engaging in a fraudulent scheme.”
The indictment states that K & S Clinical Diagnostics, located on North Park Place off Windy Hill Road, received more than $307,000 in payments for those tests between March 18, 2022 and June 24, 2023.
But the indictment—which follows an investigation by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office—doesn’t indicate how much of that total is beyond what is allowed.
The day after the indictment, a bench warrant was issued for Awad, 61, according to court records. He was charged at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on March 11 and was released later that day after posting a bond of $110,220, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports.
Awad’s wife, Safaa Awad, is listed as the owner of the diagnostic business, according to the indictment, which said that he is the chief executive officer who “oversaw all day-to-day activities of K & S and who was responsible for finalizing the tests that were charged to Medicaid.”
Staff information on the K & S website doesn’t include Safaa Awad but lists Maged Awad as the president and CEO, and states that he is a medical doctor with a PhD who formerly was a biochemistry professor.
K & S was enrolled as an independent laboratory services provider in the Georgia Medicaid program, according to the indictment.
Services provided by such entities can be reimbursed only via requests by approved medical personnel, including physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses and midwives.
According to the indictment, Awad listed three physicians on documents, falsely claiming they had ordered the genetic tests when they had not done so, then billed Georgia Medicaid for reimbursement.
Each of the payments are listed in separate exhibits in the indictment, and they typically range between $3,000 and $7,000.
The indictment states Georgia Medicaid “made payments for these claims by electronically transferring payments into a bank account owned and controlled” by Safaa Awad, who is otherwise not named in the indictment.
Last year the owner of a behavioral therapy business in Brookhaven received a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud totaling more than $300,000.
An initial court date for Awad has not been scheduled before Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Childs.
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