Decatur Police Respond to Fight at DFCS

This information comes from Decatur police reports.

The afternoon of May 3, Decatur police were called to the Department of Family and Children Services at 178 Sams St. because of a fight.

Witnesses said a security officer allowed some people to cut in line to enter the building to receive a Marta Breeze Card. One man complained and the witnesses said the security officer pushed the man and a fight started.

The officer sustained a swollen left eye but refused medical attention. The officer denied pushing the man and portrayed him as a trouble maker and the main antagonist.

But when told what witnesses said, the guard recanted and amitted pushing the man. No charges were filed because the man had left the scene.

Police charged a man with aggravated assault for allegedly fighting with his girlfriend, some of the time while inside a moving vehicle on the interstate.

Officers went to Emory Chase Condos on Coventry Road about 7 p.m. May 8 on a domestic disturbance call. A woman said she picked up her boyfriend and was driving on I-285 when an argument erupted over "issues of infidelity."

The boyfriend smashed the woman's cellphone and she retaliated by throwing his phone out the window. The woman said the man punched her in the right leg and grabbed the steering wheel, threatening to drive the car into oncoming traffic. He made threatening remarks such as, "I hope you die" and "How about I just swerve us into this truck." He also swerved the car into traffic on Scott Boulevard.

When they arrived at the condos, the man reached across her, slammed the car into park and poured a 16-ounce Coca Cola on her. He grabbed her by the shoulder and wrist and threw the keys into the nearby woods. The woman ran to a neighbor's residence and the man followed, but officers arrived shortly after.

The man admitted smashing his girlfriend's phone but said he was retaliating after she tossed his phone out the window. He denied striking her.

Officers found the woman's debit card in his pocket. Police arrested the man and took him to the police station. There, the man said his girlfriend been unfaithful and he left a voice message with the man she'd become involved with. She panicked and began striking him and grabbing his neck. Police found redness on his leg and neck but didn't charge the woman.

Jeffrey Adam Batson, 33, of Coventry Road was charged with aggravated assault, simple battery, theft by taking, and financial transaction card theft.

Police are investigating two wallet thefts.

A man reported May 11 his wallet was taken the day before from the desk inside the tennis center at Glenlake Park on Church Street. He discovered two charges for $24.75 were made at a Marta station on one Visa card and $96 had been charged to his City of Decatur Visa card. Some other credit cards and his driver's licnese were taken along with the wallet, which was valued at $75.

Another man said his wallet was stolen May 9 from an unsecured locker at the YMCA on Clairemont Avenue. It contained about $20 in cash, his driver's license, a debit card and a Bermuda special person's card.

Police investigated a May 11 choking incident involving juveniles at the old DeKalb Courthouse.

An officer was walking on East Court Square about 6:30 p.m. when a woman approached and said a child was lying on the ground at the old courthouse. The officer found the boy lying on the ground crying. He said he'd passed out like his mother does.

Then the boy changed his story, saying he'd broken another juvenile's glasses last week and that boy had choked him until he'd passed out. Other juveniles confirmed the boy broke the glasses at the picnic table on the Square and would not agree to pay for the glasses, which cost about $160.

Police talked to the suspect, who said, "I just choked him and that was it."

The boy was taken to Eggleston Children's Hospital to be checked out. The boy's mother said she wasn't sure if she wanted to prosecute and would discuss the situation with Renfroe Middle School administrators. The suspect was taken home.

A woman who works at Raging Burrito on Sycamore Street told police the night of May 8 that somebody stole a brown leather satchel from the employee break room. Taken were $150 in cash, two debit cards, keys and driver's license. Police discovered the door was not locked and the interior security camera in that part of the restaurant was not operating.

A resident of the 300 block of West College Avenue told police May 8 that two bicycles were taken from his carport.  The bikes were described as a woman's blac Electra Amsterdam worth $600 and a boy's silver Raleigh worth $75.

A woman said she dined at Chick-fil-A between 1:45 and 2 p.m. May 11 and placed the purse on the back of the chair. She forgot them and returned to find the purse missing. She notified police about 5:19 p.m.

The woman said several charges were placed on her credit cards before she could cancel them. Taken were a purse worth $20, a wallet worth $29, three credit cards, one debit card, a driver's license, medications and a cellphone.