East Cobb Crime & Fire

Suspects captured after Bentley-Windy Hill Road vehicle chase

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suspect arrested Windy Hill Road vehicle chase
The chase ended at the Pappadeaux restaurant (blue star) after beginning along Bentley Road (upper right corner). OpenStreetMap

UPDATED, MAY 27:

Cobb Police said on Saturday that all three suspects have been captured.

Public Information Officer Aaron Wilson said in a release that the other two suspects were taken into custody at the Country Hearth Inn and Suites (2767 Windy Hill Road) after conducting surveillance.

Wilson said that police obtained a search warrant and asked the suspects to come out, but they declined. He said that the Cobb Police Violent Crime Bureau was called to the scene, and “with their assistance, officers were able to get the two suspects into custody.”

Wilson said all three suspects were listed as runaway juveniles and were not identified.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Cobb Police said Friday that they have captured one person and two other suspects are at-large after a vehicle chase along in the Bentley Road-Windy Hill Road area earlier this morning.

A Precinct 3 press release said that around 4 a.m. Friday, a Flock license-plate reader alerted officers to a stolen vehicle in the Bentley Road area, and that the vehicle matched the description given by Marietta Police of being involved in several car break-ins in the vicinity.

Cobb Police said an officer spotted the vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop but the driver got away.

The driver “operated the vehicle recklessly” as officers pursued, according to police, and the vehicle continued to the Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen (2830 Windy Hill Road).

Police said the driver lost control and the vehicle crashed, and three suspects fled on foot.

Police said a K9 unit found one of the suspects hiding in a bush near the Belmont Place apartments and made an arrest. Meanwhile, other officers pursued the other suspects, but they got away, Cobb Police said.

One of suspects jumped a bridge rail and ran down a hill, with an officer deploying a Taser. But that didn’t work, and the suspect continued to flee. The officer sustained cuts to his right hand, a bruise to left thigh, and had a swollen left foot, and was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital for treatment, police said.

Police said they recovered three guns at the scene where the vehicle was ditched, with two confirmed as having been stolen, but K9 units were unable to locate the two other suspects.

The Precinct 3 release didn’t describe the vehicle or identify the suspects.

There’s no booking information available at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

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Cobb won’t retry Justin Ross Harris in son’s ‘hot car’ death

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Justin Ross Harris conviction overturned
Justin Ross Harris is serving a 12-year-sentence for exchanging sexually explicit messages with minor girls.

Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady said Thursday his office will not retry a man sentenced to serve life in prison in the “hot car” death of his son in 2014 but whose conviction was overturned last year.

In a 6-3 vote last June, the Supreme Court of Georgia overturned the conviction against Justin Ross Harris, whose 22-month-old son Cooper died of hypothermia being left all day at his father’s workplace in Vinings in a vehicle that was nearly nearly 100 degrees inside.

The high court ruled that evidence presented by prosecutors at Harris’ trial about his extramarital activities and sexually lewd activities and communications with girls and women was prejudicial and should have been separated from the murder indictment.

Harris continues to serve a 12-year sentence in the Georgia prison system for criminal attempt to commit sexual exploitation of a minor and distributing harmful materials to minors.

But Broady said in a release Thursday that his office is closing the murder case on Harris after a nearly year-long review, concluding that “crucial motive evidence that was admitted at the first trial in 2016 is no longer available to the State due to the majority decision of the Supreme Court.”

Broady said he disagrees with the Supreme Court ruling, which was also based on now-retired Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark’s denial of objections by Harris’ attorneys to introduce that evidence, and that she didn’t give “limiting” instructions to the jury.

Staley Clark, who retired last May, right before the Supreme Court ruling, also denied a motion by Harris’ attorney last year for a new murder trial.

The Cobb DA’s office—then led by Vic Reynolds, now a Cobb Superior Court judge—prosecuted the case in Glynn County, on the Georgia coast, due to pretrial publicity, claiming that Harris’ motive was to kill his son to get out of his marriage.

Harris, who was 33 at the time of his son’s death, was a web developer working for Home Depot.

On the morning of June 18, 2014, he was to have dropped off his son at Home Depot’s day care center before going to his office. Father and son had eaten breakfast at Chick-fil-A, but Harris was late for work, and left the boy inside his Hyundai Tucson, prosecutors said at the trial.

According to trial evidence, while Cooper remained inside a hot vehicle, Harris was at work in his office, where he sent lewd messages to women.

The evidence showed that Harris returned to his car after 4 p.m., and found Cooper unconscious in a car seat in the back of the SUV with the windows rolled up.

According to trial records, Harris removed the boy from the SUV and placed him on the pavement, and, according to witnesses, yelled “What have I done?”

Even though Harris said he simply forgot about his son in the vehicle, a jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life without parole.

A dissenting Supreme Court opinion argued last year that there was “no abuse of the court trial’s discretion” in deciding that severing the cases against Harris was unnecessary, and that introducing evidence about his sexual desires was not improper.

“Although we disagree with the outcome of the majority opinion and agree with the reasoning set forth by the dissenting justices, we are bound by the majority’s decision,” Broady said Thursday.

He thanked law enforcement and prosecutors “who worked tirelessly for years to obtain justice for Cooper. Cooper will always be remembered by this Office and those who fought for him.”

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Man charged with murder in shooting at Northeast Cobb home

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A man died Saturday at a home located off Canton Road in Northeast Cobb, and police said they have charged a another man with murder.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

A release by Cobb Police Tuesday afternoon said that Darius Butler, 20, has been charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault and murder.

Cobb Police Public Information Officer Aaron Wilson said officers were called to a home on Buckline Court, in the Shallowford Forest neighborhood, after a black male was seen laying in front of the residence with multiple gunshot wounds.

Police said that Butler, 28-year-old Anthony Jones of Marietta and a third, unidentified suspect went to the home around 8:30 p.m. Saturday to commit an armed robbery against Michael Sonnichsen, 25, of Kennesaw, and Malik Darden, 24 of Woodstock.

According to police, Sonnichsen and Darden shot at Butler, Jones and the other suspect in self-defense.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene and Butler was injured by gunfire, police said.

Police said Butler has been taken into custody, but didn’t indicate whether he had been hospitalized. There is no booking information about him available at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Police said Jones’ next of kin has been notified, but did not indicate what happened to the unidentified suspect.

UPDATED:

Butler was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Thursday but no further information is available.

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Ex-Cobb Police officer sentenced for assault, child cruelty

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A former Cobb Police officer assigned to patrol duties in Precinct 4 in East Cobb was sentenced to six years in prison and 14 more years on probation Monday for a 2018 assault on a woman.Ex-Cobb Police officer sentenced for assault

According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Robert New, now 51, pleaded guilty to that felony charge, as well as to another felony count of cruelty to children in the first degree.

A release issued by the DA’s office Tuesday said New was sentenced as a first offender in a non-negotiated hearing before Cobb Superior Court Judge James Bodiford.

New was charged with aggravated assault in June 2018 stemming from an off-duty incident with a woman who accused him of choking and slapping him during a sexual encounter at his home off Hawkins Store Road.

The DA’s office said police were alerted to the incident by a “good Samaritan” who said the woman had cognitive disabilities.

Police conducted a forensic interview with the the woman, who was 44 years old at the time, and concluded that due to a traumatic brain injury that occurred during childhood, she had the mental capacity of a 10-14-year-old child.

An internal affairs investigation determined that New met the woman online, and while the encounter was consensual, police said “the actions that took place during the encounter brought us to take out warrants against Officer New.”

The DA’s office said Tuesday that during a sexual encounter in May 2018, “the victim stated that New became violent during sex and choked her to the point of her not being able to breathe.”

Prosecutors said that in an interview with the victim, she said New wanted her to bring her juvenile niece and involve her in sexual activity. Police conducted a forensic analysis of New’s phone and arrested him, the DA’s office said, and he resigned a few days later.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill accepted New’s guilty plea in April, according to the DA’s office.

New was hired by Cobb Police in February 2005 and was assigned to Precinct 4 in East Cobb. He later served on the department’s DUI Task Force before returning to Precinct 4.

He was a police officer for a total of 27 years before his arrest, the DA’s office said.

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East Cobb man sentenced for shooting at neighbors, police

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An East Cobb man who engaged with a standoff with police and shot at officers and neighbors in a 2020 incident was given a 35-year sentence, the Cobb District Attorney’s office said Tuesday.East Cobb man sentenced shooting at police

The DA’s office said Donald Terry Welborn, Jr., must serve the first 18 of those years in prison in a sentence handed down by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris.

In a news release, the DA’s office said Welborn, now 60, pleaded guilty to nine counts of aggravated assault on police officers, three counts of aggravated assault on civilians and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Welborn was arrested by Cobb Police on Sept. 22, 2020, at a home on Kingsley Drive in the New Castle neighborhood off Post Oak Tritt Road after a standoff lasting several hours.

According to police, Welborn’s wife and daughter reported that Welborn began shooting inside the home around 5:30 a.m., saying he was intoxicated, and struck a ceiling fan and a ceiling.

Police arrived and closed off the neighborhood. They said said the women escaped the home unharmed, but Welborn remained inside, firing at two nearby homes.

When police reached the home, according to the DA’s office, officers tried to talk him into coming outside, but he initially refused, and began shooting at them “with multiple firearms over a short period of time.

“Officers had to duck behind vehicles as projectiles whizzed by their heads, striking treetops, the asphalt roadway, and houses,” the DA’s office release said.

The Cobb Police SWAT team took over the scene and Welborn surrendered peacefully after several hours.

The DA’s office said the investigation also determined that one of neighbors, a family with two parents and two children, “hid in a closet, terrified, for hours during the standoff.

“One bullet from a high-powered rifle struck their aquarium located in their living room, killing the fish and flooding the area. In total, detectives located 68 spent shell casings of various calibers, 32 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.”

Welborn was indicted in May 2021 by a Cobb grand jury after his attorney unsuccessfully tried to get him transferred to a mental health court.

Cobb court records indicate that one of the women, Susan Welborn, was Welborn’s wife, but they had been separated. She filed for divorce in Cobb Superior Court on the same day of the shootings.

Court records show that those proceedings are continuing.

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Atlanta man gets life sentence for raping Cobb woman in 2020

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An Atlanta man was given a life sentence this week after a Cobb Superior Court jury found him guilty of raping a woman in her apartment in the East Cobb area.Cobb rapist gets life sentence

The Cobb District Attorney’s office said that Cam Melikoglu, 34, must serve 25 years in prison and will be on probation for the rest of his life following the sentencing by Judge Julie Adams Jacobs.

According to the DA’s office, Melikoglu was at a home on Aug. 3, 2020, for drinks and dinner with friends that included two women who are sisters.

Prosecutors said that the victim became heavily intoxicated and her sister took her to her apartment off Wylie Road.

The victim’s sister and Melikoglu messaged each other on Instagram, with Melikoglu saying he wanted to check on them “due to some tension between others at the party,” the DA’s office said.

Melikoglu arrived at the victim’s apartment and her sister let him stay there overnight because it was late, the DA’s office said.

According to his arrest warrant, the attack took place around 3 a.m.

Prosecutors said sometime during the night Melikoglu went into the victim’s bedroom and raped her while she was passed out, and when she woke up he was still in her bed.

The DA’s office said her injuries were “consistent with sexual assault” and his DNA was present. After an investigation by the Marietta Police Department, Melikoglu was charged with rape and was indicted on that felony count.

At the trial, the victim, now 30, testified, according to the DA’s office, as did her sister and others at the party. The jury returned a guilty verdict earlier this week.

“This defendant is a predator. He saw an opportunity and he took it,” Cobb assistant District Attorney Lindsey McClure-So said in a statement. “He thought because the victim was unconscious when he raped her that she wouldn’t say anything. The victim should be commended for her bravery to come forward with what happened to her and to give testimony in front of her rapist.”

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Technology played ‘huge role’ in Atlanta mass shooting arrest

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Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer speaks as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens listens. Cobb Police Department

Shortly after his officers apprehended a man who shot five people Wednesday at an Atlanta medical complex, Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer had a lot of people to thank.

After naming names, and admitting he was probably forgetting to identify others, VanHoozer said one of the most crucial components in capturing the suspect was new technology.

Flock license plate readers identified the truck in Midtown Atlanta that Deion Patterson allegedly commandeered after his shooting spree, and Cobb DOT traffic cameras pinpointed his exact whereabouts in Cobb County as the afternoon turned into the evening.

Patterson, 24, was arrested around 8 p.m. without further harm to others, VanHoozer said at a press conference at Atlanta Police headquarters shortly after the arrest.

A 39-year-old woman at the Northside Hospital building in Midtown Atlanta was killed and four other women were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, three of them in critical condition.

“If you rewind the hands of time four years, we probably would not be where we are right now,” VanHoozer said of the license plate readers. “Those tools are really what got us the clues that we needed.”

Cobb and Atlanta police both use Flock license plate readers that are used to track cars and license plates, but only after a crime is committed.

VanHoozer said having the people “who know how to use” the technology was just as vital in Wednesday’s frantic search, and as a fluid, fast-developing situation evolved, police and emergency dispatch crews had to sift through a flurry of 911 calls and information.

“It was a fairly chaotic scene,” he said, referring to the vicinity around Truist Park and the Cumberland/Smyrna/Vinings area.

Atlanta Police said the Patterson left the Northside Medical building on West Peachtree Street on foot shortly after the shootings around noon, and walked to a nearby Shell station where he saw an unattended pickup truck with the engine running and drove it away.

Atlanta Police notified Cobb Police around 12:30 that they had received an LPR (license plate reader alert) that the truck was in Cobb County.

Shelter-in-place orders were given in many areas around Truist Park and The Battery, and Cobb’s Real-Time Crime Center staff fielded many calls from the community.

Cobb DOT also aided in the search by providing its camera feeds, which VanHoozer also credited with giving police a precise location of the suspect.

VanHoozer didn’t specify that location, but it was the Waterford Place condominiums in the Cumberland area, not far from where police found the pickup truck they said Patterson had driven from Atlanta. He was taken into custody without incident near a swimming pool after being confronted by an undercover officer.

Atlanta Police have not thus far released a possible motive for the shootings. Patterson was scheduled to have a medical appointment at the Northside Hospital building when gunfire erupted on the 11th floor.

Atlanta Police said the suspect was in the building for roughly two minutes after the shootings.

Patterson, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard and returned to civilian life in January, has been charged with one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

He is being detained at the Fulton County jail’s medical observation unit and on Thursday waived his arraignment hearing.

“Hats off to everybody who was involved in this,” VanHoozer said of the search.

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Cobb Police capture Atlanta mass shooting suspect

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UPDATED 8:25 PM

Cobb Police say they have arrested Deion Patterson and will release more information in a joint press conference with Atlanta Police.

Follow-up story can be found by clicking here.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Cobb Police said Wednesday that they are assisting Atlanta Police and other law enforcement agencies in trying to apprehend a man whom they say shot at least five people at Midtown hospital, one fatally.Midtown Atlanta shooting suspect

In a social media message posted around 3:15 p.m., Cobb Police said they have assigned officers in the search “after reports he may have come to Cobb County. Portions of Cobb County that border Atlanta may see heavier than normal presence.”

Cobb Police said in another message a few minutes later that “reports of a recovered carjacked vehicle near Campbell Middle School are not correct. We will update with information as it becomes available.”

Another message posted around 3:45 p.m. said the search was taking place in the Vinings, Cumberland and Truist Park areas.

At 4:25 p.m., Cobb Police said that “reports of shots fired at 200 Galleria Pkwy were a false alarm. No shots fired.”

The Smyrna Police Department posted a message shortly after 2 p.m. saying it had received “credible information that a vehicle possibly connected to the midtown shooting was seen in the area of Campbell Rd and Atlanta Rd.

“Officers responded to the area to assist in the search, but the vehicle was not there. Smyrna Police Department is continuing to work with other law enforcement agencies in this matter. If you see anything suspicious please call 911.”

At 4:45 p.m. the Cobb Sheriff’s Office said it had activated its SWAT unit to support Cobb Police search efforts.

The Cobb Police postings came shortly after Atlanta Police lifted a shelter-in-place order in the area around 1110 West Peachtree St.

That’s the address of the Northside Hospital Midtown campus.

Atlanta Police identified the suspect as Deion Patterson, 24, and released the accompanying photos, saying that as of 2:46 p.m. he was still at-large but believed he was no longer in the Midtown area.

“The suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous and should not be approached,” Atlanta Police said shortly before 2 p.m.

The shelter-in-place was ordered around 12:40 p.m. after shots rang out at the medical building.

Midtown Atlanta shooting suspectPolice said four of the shooting victims were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and the person who died was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A Grady official said at a press conference that three of the shooting victims taken to the hospital are in critical condition—two of them had been in surgery—and the other is in the emergency room.

Atlanta Police held a media briefing later Wednesday afternoon, and said a 39-year-old woman was killed, and that the other victims taken to Grady also are women, ages 25, 29, 56 and 71.

This story will be updated.

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Man sentenced to 15 years in stalking at Indian Hills home

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A Dunwoody man has been given a 15-year sentence, with seven years to serve in prison, after pleading guilty this week to aggravated stalking and other charges stemming from an incident last May at a home in Indian Hills.Man sentenced stalking Indian Hills home

The Cobb District Attorney’s Office Friday said that Cobb Superior Court Judge Jason Marbut handed down the sentence to Anthony Merriwether, 66, after a negotiated plea on a number of felony counts.

Those included discharge of a gun near highway or street, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property in the first and second degrees, possession of cocaine, possession of firearm during commission of a felony, terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit theft by extortion, and possession of firearm by a convicted felon.

Merriwether was to have gone on trial this week, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office records.

Prosecutors said Merriwether was an ex-boyfriend of the victim’s deceased sister, and they had been in a dispute over the latter’s estate.

In a news release Friday, the DA’s office said that Cobb Police were called to the scene of a home on May 6, 2022, by a woman who reported an armed man in her front yard.

Prosecutors said that a window and interior walls of the home had been shattered by bullets, and that a man was shown on a Ring video camera driving to the home, stepping out of the car and making verbal threats for money.

According to an arrest warrant, the camera footage showed Merriwether pulling up in the driveway in a Porsche and he was in possession of two guns at the home on Indian Hills Parkway.

The victim was home at the time of the incident, the warrant said.

Merriwether had been given a portion of his former girlfriend’s estate, according to prosecutors, who said he believed he was entitled to the entire estate.

According to the release, Merriwether was arrested at a traffic stop on Johnson Ferry Road near Columns Drive shortly after the incident and was was found with two firearms and cocaine in his vehicle.

After his release, however, according to the DA’s office, Merriwether continued to contact the victim, despite a “no-contact” provision of his bond.

Another warrant taken out on Nov. 14 states that Merriwether used his deceased girlfriend’s e-mail address between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 to send several messages “which contained threats of death, violence and intimidating statements” toward the same victim.

On Nov. 17, Merriwether was arrested on the aggravated stalking charge for violating bond conditions, and he has been detained ever since at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

He was denied bond in December after a probable cause hearing, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s office records.

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Northeast Cobb fire destroys home, garage; no injuries

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Northeast Cobb fire destroys home
Cobb Fire & Emergency Services

A home and garage were destroyed Sunday afternoon in a fire in the Northeast Cobb area that Cobb Fire officials said took 15 units to get under control.

Cobb Fire said the home was in the Jamerson Road area, and crews were called around 12:45 p.m. with reports of heavy smoke and fire.

No one was home at the time, according to Cobb Fire, which made contact with the homeowner and said there were no injuries.

“Crews were able to respond quickly to extinguish the fire spreading in the woods, preventing any further damages to other residences in the area,” Cobb Fire said in a social media message.

Another fire broke out in East Cobb on Sunday, seven miles from the other blaze, according to the Cobb Professional Firefighters Local 2563, requiring seven units.

No details were provided, and East Cobb News has contacted Cobb Fire for information about that fire.

Northeast Cobb fire destroys home
Cobb Fire & Emergency Services
Northeast Cobb fire destroys home
Cobb Professional Fire Fighters Local 2563

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Police arrest Roswell Road-Interstate 75 hit-and-run suspect

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Marietta Police said Wednesday they’ve arrested a motorist they say hit two construction workers on Roswell Road at the Interstate 75 bridge on Sunday morning.Marietta Police

Malik Branch, 31, of Dallas, Ga., is charged with two felony counts each of hit and run and injury by vehicle, as well as misdemeanor charges of DUI, failure to maintain lane, driving on a suspended license, driving on a suspended car registration, driving without insurance, not wearing a seatbelt and driving an unsafe vehicle.

According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports, Branch is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Police said “old school detective work” led to the arrest.

According to an arrest warrant, Branch was seen at the nearby Marietta Sage Lounge (962 Roswell Street) earlier Sunday evening, and “was stumbling and almost falling in the parking lot with a beer bottle in his hand.”

Branch then got into his car, a gray 2019 Volkswagen Jetta, and headed eastbound on Roswell Road, the warrant states, causing the accident.

The workers were preparing for a lane closure at 1:40 a.m. Sunday when they were injured, according to the warrant, which said the Jetta left its lane of traffic and struck construction cones and a traffic message board before hitting the two men.

The warrant said that construction worker Jimmy Varraza suffered a broken right arm, a broken right leg and a broken hip and remains unconscious and in critical condition.

The other worker, Oscar Aguilar, suffered a broken right arm and swelling to his head, according to the warrant. Police said Wednesday he has been released from a hospital.

The warrant also said that the Jetta had two bald front tires, two rear tires with low inflation levels, one of them not the proper size for the vehicle.

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Cobb Police shoot motorist with gun on I-75 near Delk Road

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Cobb Police shoot I-75 motorist

UPDATED:

The GBI has identified the suspect as Kenny Ezekiel, 31, of Atlanta, and said he is in stable condition.

According to a GBI release, Ezekiel pulled a gun from his waistband, ignoring the command of an officer who told him not to reach for the weapon.

The officer immediately shot Ezekial, who threw the gun out of the driver’s side window, according to the GBI, which said no officers were injured in the incident.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Cobb Police said that a driver they say reached for a gun as an officer approached during a traffic stop on Interstate 75 Wednesday night near Delk Road was shot and taken to a hospital.

In a release issued Thursday morning, Public Information Officer Shenise Barner said the unidentified driver was pulled over by Precinct 4 officers in a southbound lane of I-75 after 10 p.m. Wednesday,

Police said the officer saw that the driver had a weapon and the motorist “made a movement toward the firearm.”

Barner said the officer commanded the driver to stop, but the driver ignored the order, and was shot by the officer.

Police said officers offered first aid to the driver, who was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital by ambulance.

Barner did not indicate the condition of the driver; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case, as it does with officer-involved shootings, and is expected to release further information.

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Police: Suspect made false report in East Cobb bomb threat

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East Cobb shopping center evacuated
A Marietta Police photo of the truck at that contained a device that was investigated by bomb technicians. The driver has been charged with making a false report of a crime.

Marietta Police on Monday provided some more information about a bomb threat Saturday that forced the evacuation of an East Cobb shopping center for several hours.

What they haven’t established yet is a reason why the owner of a pickup truck drove from his hometown in Alabama to a retail parking lot in Marietta and made the threat.

Robert Andrew Devlin, 37, of Lincoln, Ala., remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a $60,000 bond for what police said were making false reports of a pipe bomb in a truck he drove to the parking lot at East Gate Shopping Center (1808 Lower Roswell Road).

An arrest warrant for Devlin said he’s charged with a felony count of making a false report of a crime and two misdemeanor counts of making a false alarm and having a hoax device.

The warrant states that Devlin drove from his hometown to the shopping center and shortly after 8 a.m. called 911, which dispatched officers to the scene.

Marietta Police said that based on information Devlin provided to them, “officers determined the threat to be credible and immediately began evacuating the area” around the shopping center.

Other law enforcement was called, including Cobb Police and its bomb squad. Devlin was interviewed by Marietta Police and was charged as that was going on.

“Around noon, a device resembling a pipe bomb was removed from the truck and secured by the CCPD bomb technicians. The rest of the vehicle was methodically searched via robot” and the area was reopened to the public around 3 p.m., police said Monday.

The FBI and ATF were also called to the scene, and it was determined that while the device “did contain some explosive elements, it lacked other components necessary for it to be considered a fully assembled explosive device.”

Marietta Police said they’re continuing to investigate and anyone with information is asked to call Det. Robert Bollinger at 770-794-5345.

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East Cobb shopping center evacuated due to possible bomb

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East Cobb shopping center evacuated
The East Gate Shopping Center entrance at Hamby Drive. East Cobb News photo.

UPDATED, SUNDAY, FEB. 26, 12:41 P.M.:

The area that had been evacuated was reopened later Saturday without incident.

Marietta Police have charged Robert Andrew Devlin, 37, of Lincoln, Ala., on a felony count of a false public alarm and misdemeanor counts of false report of a crime and reporting a device that turned out to be a hoax.

According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, Devlin was arrested at 11 a.m. Saturday and later booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he is being held on a $60,000 bond.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Police have blocked off access around a shopping center in East Cobb Saturday after receiving a tip about a vehicle parked there that may have contained an explosive device.

Marietta Police said Saturday afternoon that several law enforcement agencies are on the scene at the East Gate Shopping Center.

Police are blocking off the area around the shopping center, located at the Marietta Parkway and Lower Roswell Road.

There is no access for motorists on Lower Roswell between the Marietta Parkway and Scott Drive and on Hamby Drive between Lower Roswell and Hazelwood Drive.

East Cobb shopping center evacuated
A Marietta Police photo of the truck that contained a device secured by Cobb Police bomb technicians. The driver was taken into custody.

Marietta Police said in a social media message that a 911 call at 8:13 a.m. Saturday said a pickup truck parked near the shopping center “may have some sort of a bomb or explosive device in the back.”

According to police, officers called to the scene made contact with the truck owner and “determined the threat to be serious.”

That individual, who was not identified, was taken into custody, police said, and the area was evacuated as the Cobb Police bomb squad was called to the scene.

Police said a device was removed from the truck but “it is not yet known if that device is real.”

They said they believe the area is safe but were keeping the evacuation in place as they continued to search the truck.

Cobb Police, Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Marietta Fire, Cobb Fire, the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco also were on the scene.

This story will be updated.

East Cobb shopping center evacuated
A Cobb Sheriff’s vehicle blocking motorists on Lower Roswell Road at Scott Drive. East Cobb News photo.
East Cobb shopping center evacuated
Vehicles attempting to cross the Marietta Parkway on Lower Roswell Road westbound were forced to detour. East Cobb News photo.

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School bus driver charged with breaking into East Cobb home

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Cobb Police have arrested a man they say walked into a home in East Cobb looking for a girl who rides a bus he drives for the Cobb County School District.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

According to an arrest warrant, Gogineni Rayudu entered a condominium unit on Ashborough Circle, located off Delk Road near I-75, at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

The warrant said the man claimed to be the girl’s bus driver, and that he closed the door behind him and asked to see her.

According to the warrant, the man fled the residence “upon being asked questions about why he was there.”

The girl’s mother told police that Rayudu has come to the residence three times in the last month and questioned neighbors about where her daughter lives, according to the warrant.

WSB-TV reported Wednesday that Rayudu recently began driving a bus route for Powers Ferry Elementary School, where the girl is a student.

The Cobb school district is on winter break this week.

“The date of the incident occurred when school was not in session and there was no reasonable explanation given by said accused to be there,” the warrant states.

According to a Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking report, Rayudu was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, charged with a felony count of burglary and misdemeanor count of loiter prowl.

Rayudu, 55, whose home address is listed in the booking report at Woodberry Lane in East Cobb, was being held in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a bond of $22,220.

UPDATED:

Rayudu was released on bond Thursday afternoon, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

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Two men arrested for armed robberies at NE Cobb gas stations

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East Cobb man arrested gas station robberies
Cobb Police said $15,000 was stolen from a BP station on Canton Road in a Jan. 29 armed robbery.

Two men have been arrested for what Cobb Police said were two gas station armed robberies in the Northeast Cobb area in late January.

According to an arrest warrant, Shawn Jason Glover, 29, of Kennesaw, drove a getaway vehicle in both incidents, on Jan. 25 at a Shell Station on Ernest Barrett Parkway and on Jan. 29 at a BP station on Canton Road.

Glover was arrested Wednesday on two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault and is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

His warrant states that at 7:23 a.m. on Jan. 25, Glover was behind the wheel of a black 2010 Hyundai Tucson with another passenger in the vehicle, Larry Daniels, 34, of Acworth, who went inside the convenience store at the Shell station at 465 Ernest Barrett Parkway.

Police said in the warrant that Daniels was wearing black clothing, a dark mask and black face paint when he approached a store employee, then aimed a handgun and demanded money.

According to police, Daniels received $4,860 in cash, then left with Glover as they drove away from the scene.

That process was repeated on Jan. 29 at 7:18 p.m. at the BP station at 3190 Canton Road, police said. Daniels left the Tucson with Glover behind the wheel, entered the convenience store with dark clothing and a dark mask, the warrant states, then threatened an employee with a gun and demanded money.

The warrant said Daniels left the store with $15,000 in cash and returned to the Tucson, with Glover driving them away.

Booking reports indicate that Daniels was arrested on Jan. 31 and he is being held without bond, also at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

He also was charged with two felony counts each of armed robbery and aggravated assault and is facing additional charges from last year, including theft by taking and identity theft fraud, according to jail records.

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1 person dead, dozens displaced in East Cobb apartment fire

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East Cobb apartment fire, Hamptons at East Cobb
Police blocked off access to the Hamptons at East Cobb apartments, where a building caught fire Monday morning.

UPDATED, Tuesday 10:50 A.M.:

Cobb Police identified the victim as Thomas Alexander, 74, who was found dead in Apartment 226.

Officer Shenise Barner said Cobb Police is investigating the death and Cobb Fire is investigating the fire.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons Detectives at 770-499-3945. Those wishing to remain anonymous should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrimeATL.com regarding c

ORIGINAL STORY:

Cobb Fire officials said Monday that one person has died and dozens of others were displaced in an apartment fire off Roswell Road in East Cobb.

Ramses Rivas, the public information officer for Cobb Fire, said in a release that the victim was located inside a unit in the building that caught fire, and that 39 people have been displaced.

He said 29 units were damaged or destroyed, and that Cobb Fire is working with the American Red Cross to find housing assistance for those who lost their apartments.

Rivas said that crews were dispatched to the Hamptons at East Cobb (1523 Roswell Road) at 10:53 a.m., and arrived several minutes later to find the front of a three-story apartment building heavily engulfed by fire, with “flames through the roof.”

He said a total of 12 fire apparatus were on the scene and 50 firefighters responded, from the Cobb and Marietta fire departments.

Cobb Fire has not released the identity of the victim pending notification of next of kin.

The blaze was under control by mid-afternoon Monday, but police officers were preventing residents from driving beyond the gates at the entrance to the complex as vehicles were parked around the leasing office at the front.

Rivas said the cause of the fire has not been determined.

The Hamptons is located on Roswell Road at the intersection of Lower Roswell Road.

East Cobb apartment fire
Photo: Cobb Fire and Emergency Services

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Three men charged with home burglary off Paper Mill Road

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Lutheran Church of the Resurrection burglary arrests
Police made the arrests at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection Saturday night, according to warrants.

Two men whom Cobb Police said burglarized a home off Paper Mill Road Saturday night have been arrested, along with the driver of a vehicle who allegedly took them to the scene of the crime.

According to arrest warrants, Alfredo Gallardo and Carlos Arenas broke into a home on Gateside Lane Saturday night shortly after 8 p.m. and stole jewelry and other items.

The home is near the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection (4814 Paper Mill Road), where police on patrol became suspicious after noticing a sole vehicle, a van, in a parking lot, according to one of the warrants.

According to a warrant for the man behind the wheel, Jose Castro, “There did not appear to be any church activities happening at the time officers approached.”

The warrant said Castro produced for an officer an Argentinian identification that he later admitted had a false name and birthdate.

His warrant said Castro provided the other men transportation to the church, then to the victim’s residence.

Warrants for Gallardo and Arenas said that officers went to the home, and two men fled the scene, ignoring commands to stop.

Their warrants said that Arenas left a bag of tools in the residence on the victim’s couch and was found with “a window-breaking tool” when he was arrested. Gallardo was found with a bag of pry bars, according to his warrant.

All three men were charged with first-degree burglary.

Gallardo, 32, of Los Angeles, and Arenas, 32, who is listed as homeless, also were charged with possessing tools of a crime and obstruction of a police officer.

Castro, 19, also listed as homeless, was further charged with giving a false name to law enforcement and loiter prowl.

All three were in custody Monday afternoon at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on $22,220 bond each, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, which state that they are being held on an immigration detainer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Man charged with sexual assault of girl, 12, at Shaw Park

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Cobb Police have charged a transient man with the rape of a 12-year-old girl at Shaw Park last weekend.Cobb Police, Holly Springs Road suspicious person, East Cobb crime forum

Douglas Darch, 62, was taken into custody on Jan. 22 and remains at the Cobb Adult Detention Center without bond, according to booking reports.

Police said in a warrant that he approached the girl the day before as she was walking in a wooded area of the park shortly before 6 p.m. He offered her a water bottle, and after she drank from it, she began to feel dizzy, according to police.

The warrant said the suspect then took out a knife and threatened her to do what he told her.

According to the warrant, she was forced to provide oral sex, and the suspect also ordered her to remove her clothing, then touched her genitalia.

The victim further stated in the warrant that she “was in fear for her life or bodily harm.”

Darch is facing felony charges of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, aggravated assault, cruelty to children and making terroristic threats.

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Student stabbed at J.J. Daniell MS recovering at home

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Summer Kirk, J.J. Daniell student stabbed

The mother of a J.J. Daniell Middle School student who was stabbed during an incident on Tuesday said her daughter is recovering at home, but is traumatized by what happened.

Cecile Kirk said her daughter Summer was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after being stabbed by another student several times at a cafeteria lunch table.

“The attacker who was thought to be a friend walked up to victim, handed her a tshirt she had borrowed from my child when Summer reached for the shirt the other child grabbed Summer’s hair and started stabbing at her neck and head,” Cecile Kirk wrote in a gofundme note to raise money for the girl’s mental health services.

“Summer ended up with multiple wounds one almost hitting an artery. Summer was sent to hospital for examination and sutures/ staples. This incident was not life threatening but very well the intent behind it was.”

The Cobb County School District has declined to divulge details of the altercation, other than saying on Tuesday that that the victim and the attacker were both stabbed and that no one else was hurt.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” the Cobb school district said, adding that charges may be pending against the still-unidentified attacker.

Neither the district nor Principal Amy Stump elaborated on what may have led to the stabbing.

Stump said in a message to Daniell families that the alleged attacker “made a terrible choice during an altercation with another student” and offered support for anxiety and fear via school counselors.

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