Lauren Keating
CL Correspondent
Keating has been thumbing through Atlanta Police Department blotters for 20+ years, reinterpreting them for Creative Loafing readers in her own unique way. As The Blotter Diva, her take on crime in the ATL offers a perspective that's both witty and sublime, forcing the reader to rethink the criminal's intent — and I.Q.
Articles By This Writer
THE BLOTTER: ‘You’re a mean one, 2020’ Article
Monday December 7, 2020 12:48 pm EST
And other stories of life in the ATL from the past year
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THE BLOTTER: Wiped out! Article
Friday April 10, 2020 04:05 pm EDT
And other tales of life in the ATL
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THE BLOTTER: Mommie Dearest Article
Monday March 2, 2020 01:18 pm EST
And other tales of life in the ATL
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THE BLOTTER: Tampon tirade Article
Thursday August 1, 2019 04:47 pm EDT
And other tales of life in the ATL
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The Blotter Article
Tuesday January 1, 2019 05:30 pm EST
And other tales of life in the ATL
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The Blotter: Chasing Beelzebub Article
Tuesday July 11, 2017 09:04 pm EDT
Bizarre crimes from Atlanta police reports
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The Blotter: Problematic parcel Article
Tuesday June 6, 2017 02:19 pm EDT
Bizarre crimes from Atlanta police reports
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The Blotter strikes back Article
Thursday March 9, 2017 01:40 pm EST
Atlanta's infamous crime column returns to Creative Loafing
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The Blotter: Best of the Blotter (2016) Article
Thursday July 14, 2016 04:00 am EDT
A roundup of most bizarre crimes from the past year
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The Blotter: Laced too tight? Article
Thursday July 7, 2016 04:00 am EDT
A 33-year-old man wearing a corset and stockings strolled into a Midtown grocery store, selected a single red apple, and then stood in line to pay for his fruit. Another customer reportedly asked the man to cover up. Outraged, the man unleashed some choice words and was asked to leave the store. The man said he would calm down. His calm reprieve didn't last long, though. Suddenly, the man... | more...
The Blotter: Compliment conundrum Article
Thursday June 30, 2016 04:00 am EDT
A 24-year-old man and his friend requested an Uber driver pick them up at a gay club in Midtown to take them home. During the ride, the 24-year-old jokingly told the Uber driver he was really cute. According to the police report, the driver told the man to "shut the fuck up," and alledgedly pulled out a gun and aimed it at the 24-year-old.
The 24-year-old remained quiet for the rest of the...
| more...The Blotter: Out on a limb (2) Article
Thursday June 23, 2016 04:00 am EDT
A 21-year-old female clerk recently had a rough day at a Little Five Points boutique. A woman with one leg reportedly barged into the boutique and got in the clerk's face. At one point, the one-legged woman left the boutique and started yelling at the clerk through the store window. The woman eventually stormed back into the boutique and knocked accessories off the counter and reportedly... | more...
The Blotter: Meat market Article
Thursday June 9, 2016 04:00 am EDT
A pork chop purchase went awry on Ponce de Leon Avenue. A man reeking of booze walked into a grocery store with only one item on his list: pork chops. According to the store manager, the man yelled at a female cashier because she was did not bag his pork chops properly, and then the man bagged the chops himself. The manager asked the man to calm down, and offered to help him with the pork... | more...
The Blotter: Spooky ambitions Article
Thursday June 2, 2016 04:00 am EDT
Cops received a call about a masked man dressed in all black, who was reportedly scaring people on the Beltline in Old Fourth Ward. The masked man had a pumpkin tattoo on his left upper arm and was riding a skateboard. A cop found the masked man sitting on top of an underpass on Willoughby Way. "Once he saw us, I told him to come down," the cop noted. "He then got up and ran." The masked man,... | more...
The Blotter: Flexible space oddity Article
Thursday May 26, 2016 04:00 am EDT
Outside a West End shopping mall, a cop saw a black car stopped with a twitchy male driver inside "The driver had a very hostile demeanor toward me," the cop noted. "I asked him why he was so agitated. He advised that he felt that he was being harassed and that he didn't do anything wrong."
The driver, a 34-year-old man from Douglasville, admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages before...
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