The Blotter February 12 2003

A 29-year-old woman said her manager at a beauty-supply store on Campbellton Road threw a butcher knife in her direction. Previously, she complained to the manager about employees making sexual comments about her, but nothing was done about it. Since that day, they have all given her a hard time, the woman said. She wasn’t sure if the manager was throwing the knife at her, but it landed within 2 feet of her, and he threw the knife more than five times in her direction. The manager allegedly said it was no big deal and he was just playing.

The manager of a cement plant on Paul Avenue said the pack house manager, a 55-year-old Marietta man, was fired in March 2002 for insubordination. According to the manager, the fired employee started calling the plant about six months ago, but most of the initial calls were just abrasive language. However, the calls continued up to January 2003 and became threatening and violent. The manager recorded the calls and played them for police. The caller said, “I’m going to cut off your gonads and feed them to you. I’m going after you with all I’ve got. ... You’re history! ... Will be back in the cement industry, I’ll run your fucking ass down. ... Made this company grow 35 percent in quality and quantity for 34 months.” The manager said he is concerned because the fired employee is also a firearms collector, including modified shotguns, pistols and assault rifles.

A 46-year-old man said a former employee requested that his money be sent to an address with Chamblee-Tucker on it. The 46-year-old said he sent $135 to an address on Henderson Mill Road in the city of Chamblee-Tucker. Then, the former employee called the 46-year-old, threatened his life and said he didn’t get his money. The police officer explained that Chamblee and Tucker were two different cities, and perhaps the former employee never received his money.

An officer noticed a black Dodge Neon pulled over to the side of I-20 and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The officer stopped to see if the driver needed help. The officer approached the Dodge Neon and saw a 26-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man engaged in oral sex. The officer asked both of them why they didn’t wait until they got home. They both said they were “sorry.” The officer told them to get dressed. They went to jail for public indecency.

A 19-year-old woman said last year, she allowed her mother to claim both herself and her 1-year-old daughter on the mother’s income taxes. But this year, the 19-year-old worked and got her own apartment, so she plans to file her own income taxes. She told her mother about her tax plan, and the mother got upset and refused to release the baby’s Social Security check ($500) unless the 19-year-old returned everything that the mother bought for them. Then, the mother left threatening phone messages. The 19-year-old called the Social Security Administration and got them to stop payment on the check.

When the mother found out, she came over to the daughter’s apartment and pulled some of her hair out. The mother also ransacked the apartment and took her cordless phone so she couldn’t call police.

A 28-year-old man said he stopped by a housing project on McDaniel Street to meet a woman that he just met on an Internet chat room. The man said he went to her apartment and used the bathroom. When he emerged from the bathroom, the front door was open and his leather computer bag was gone. He said the computer bag contained two laptop computers (worth about $2,800) and $250 cash. The man said the door to the apartment across the hall was open, and three drug dealers were inside the apartment. The man said he confronted the drug dealers, but they said they didn’t have his computer bag. The police officer ran the man’s name and date of birth on police computers; the man wasn’t on file. The officer wrote, “[The man] either never had a driver’s license or gave me false information.” The man just wanted a ride out of the area, so the officer gave him a lift to the Garnet MARTA station. “There is more to this report than the victim is telling me,” concluded the officer.

A 44-year-old man said a homeless man keeps dumping trash into the yard of some property he owns on Fern Avenue. Sometimes, the homeless man burns the trash, causing a fire hazard. A police officer went to Fern Avenue property and saw the homeless man, known as “Junebug,” walking away. Junebug stood across the street. The officer wrote, “‘Junebug’ has put enough trash on this property to fill a dump truck and every time [the owner] puts it off the property, ‘Junebug’ puts it back on the property.” Junebug, a thin man with a full beard, went to jail.

A 33-year-old man and a 34-year-old man said someone kicked in the door to their apartment on Nelson Street and poured bleach on their beds and on some clothes. The men couldn’t tell police of anyone who might be vindictive toward them. The officer noted, “The only dispute they are in is with the homeowner’s association and a lawsuit with [a man].”

At Atlanta-Fulton Public Library on Margaret Mitchell Square, a security guard saw a 34-year-old man walk toward the exit doors. The alarm went off. The guard stopped the man and found two books in his pants. The man said he “just wanted the books.” But he hadn’t registered for the books or paid for them. The man went to jail for shoplifting.

All items in The Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports and are public record.??