The Blotter June 29 2005

A MAN DROVE INTO GREENWOOD CEMETERY at 7:45 p.m. to visit his family gravesite. Twenty minutes later (8:05 p.m.), the man tried to leave the cemetery, but the gate was locked. Thus, the man was locked inside the cemetery as nightfall approached. An unknown citizen notified police that someone was locked inside the cemetery. Officers tried to call cemetery workers several times, but there was no answer. So the chain on the cemetery gate was cut by the Atlanta Fire Department, and the man was freed (and spared from having to spend the night alone in a dark cemetery.)

A MAN WITH A MISSING FOOT banged his fists on the windows of a Burger King on Greenbriar Parkway. Then he tried to smash the windows with his crutches. No one knew who the man was, or why he would do this. So the Burger King manager called police.When an officer arrived, the man was in the parking lot, trying to set fire to the manager’s car by putting a lit cigarette in the exhaust pipe and near the gas tank.

The manager and another employee tried to stop him, and the man spit on them.

The officer approached, and the man swung his crutches at him. The man threatened to kill the officer if he got any closer. The officer told the man to put the crutches down and get on the ground, or he would spray him with tear gas. The man complied, but he kept trying to spit on the officer and promised to bite his ears off and crush his head. The man said the officer was bipolar and should get checked out. Medics arrived and said the man was likely bipolar and needed to go to Grady Memorial Hospital’s psychiatric ward. The man, age 62, has long white hair and a full beard.

AT A RECENT MUSIC FESTIVAL, someone stole an inflatable monster on Piedmont Avenue. The monster is a mascot for Monster.com. According to the police report, the inflatable monster is worth $25,000.

A CATFIGHT BROKE OUT AT A DINER on Roswell Road. Two strippers named “Candy” and “Tina” squared off against two other women. The diner’s manager tried to calm the situation, but the women started throwing food and utensils at each other. The manager grabbed Candy and held her back, and another man grabbed a woman from the opposing side and held her back. At that moment, Candy threw a ketchup bottle, which hit the manager right between the eyes, causing a large cut. After the ketchup-tossing, the two strippers fled in a white Lexus. The manager went to Northside Hospital to get stitches on his forehead.

A MAN DROVE INTO GREENWOOD CEMETERY at 7:45 p.m. to visit his family gravesite. Twenty minutes later (8:05 p.m.), the man tried to leave the cemetery, but the gate was locked. Thus, the man was locked inside the cemetery as nightfall approached.An unknown citizen notified police that someone was locked inside the cemetery. Officers tried to call cemetery workers several times, but there was no answer. So the chain on the cemetery gate was cut by the Atlanta Fire Department, and the man was freed (and spared from having to spend the night alone in a dark cemetery.)

AT 5 P.M., a 49-year-old man left his apartment on Oglethorpe Avenue to get a padlock. (His ex-girlfriend has a key to his apartment and he doesn’t want her to come inside; she just moved out.) Thirty minutes later, the man returned to his apartment. It was ransacked. Several rooms had been sprayed with a fire extinguisher. In the kitchen, applesauce and dish detergent covered the walls, table and door. In the living room, the TV screen was decorated with yellow mustard, in the design of a smiley face. Power cords were cut off all the electronic equipment in the apartment. Leather couch cushions were cut open, and the couch had been doused with a fire extinguisher. Several framed wall hangings were busted, with glass everywhere. Items belonging to the ex-girlfriend were gone.

The ex-girlfriend is about 20 years younger than the man. She is described as having a tattoo on her lower back of “wings of a bird/angel.”

A 71-YEAR-OLD MAN told police that he believes someone came into his bedroom while he was sleeping and took his cell phone from his nightstand. Nothing else was disturbed in the man’s apartment on Centennial Olympic Park Drive. The elderly man believes someone has a key to his apartment.

A 46-YEAR-OLD MAN received three threatening phone calls, starting at 3:50 a.m. During the first call, the caller said the man had been injected with a needle tainted with HIV. Three minutes later, the caller phoned and threatened to contact the man’s boss about the reasons the man went on vacation a few weeks ago. The last call came at 3:57 a.m. The caller threatened to damage the rims of the man’s Lexus SC 400 coupe. The man described the caller to police: The caller is a bald, 29-year-old man with buck teeth. Also, the caller has the word “slave” tattooed on his left leg. The relationship between the caller and the man is unclear.

A MAN WAS WALKING ALONG PEACHTREE STREET at 5:30 a.m. A shirtless man walked up, hit him in the face, kicked him, and stole his black Air Jordan tennis shoes and a $5 bill. The man said he could identify the thief, who goes by the street name “Bald Head.” The man went to Grady Memorial Hospital with bruised ribs and minor cuts.

A 41-YEAR-OLD MAN returned to his apartment on Adelle Street and discovered that someone had broken in through a side door, plugged up the kitchen sink, and turned on the water. The man’s apartment was flooded, and his laptop computer was wet and no longer functioned. Nothing was missing from the apartment, and there are no suspects.

All items in The Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports.