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

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.

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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