Police reported to the Chatham Area Transit depot on Gwinnett Street in reference to two city buses being damaged by subjects throwing rocks off the train track overpass that crosses the 600 block of Gwinnett Street.
One bus received damage to the windshield directly in front of the driver, as well as the electronic “headsign” above the windshield. Police say if the rock had penetrated the glass, the driver could have been seriously injured.
The second bus was being road-checked by a mechanic when an object was thrown at the side of the bus. A window in the middle of the driver’s side of the bus was broken.
The object, possibly an iron railroad stake, deeply gouged the metal side of the window and then sliced a long open hole almost all the way across the pane. The damage was not consistent with a rock.
The mechanic didn’t see anyone. He heard the damage, but was unsure of what had occurred until he returned to the CAT depot.
On the same day, police were called to the depot because an employee’s personal vehicle was damaged while she was going to work. She said five or six young males had thrown rocks at her car as she traveled east on Gwinnett Street under the overpass. The base of the windshield had been struck, causing several long cracks in the glass.
• An officer was dispatched to Apache Avenue in reference to a fight in progress.
Upon arrival, the officer was met by a woman who appeared very upset and was crying. She said she wanted her husband and son arrested. She was very adamant about wanting them arrested and was very loud in saying so.
She said her son had jumped on her brother and beaten him down and that her husband had held her back and wouldn’t let her go. The officer went into the house to speak with the son, while a second officer went to speak to the husband.
The son said there were some ongoing problems within the family and that the problems centered around his uncle. He said that his uncle was a “piece of work” and that he had been in and out of prison.
He would not elaborate or specify what exactly the problem was with his uncle, saying it was a family matter. He said some things had recently come to his attention and he said he and his father wanted to confront his uncle in an attempt to work things out.
The son said he and his father went around the corner to his uncle’s house, where they met in the kitchen. At that time, the father and his wife began to argue verbally, and as it began to get heated, the uncle moved towards them as if he was going to intervene. The son said he put his hands up to keep his uncle back.
The uncle backed off for a short period of time and then again moved towards the couple as if he was going to intervene. At that point, the son put his hands on his uncle’s chest and the uncle swung on him and slapped him in the face.
He said he swung back and struck his uncle in the face and knocked him to the ground. He said his uncle left shortly after, saying his uncle is very stubborn and headstrong.
The son said his mother drinks quite a bit and takes painkillers for her back. He said his mother is the only person in the family who will have anything to do with his uncle and that she will go to great lengths to protect him.
• A suspicious vehicle was reported at the intersection of Ash Street and East Park Avenue. A police officer spoke to the owner and his sister, who said a wrecker was on the way. The front driver’s side wheel of the car was disconnected from the front axle and turned outward 90 degrees from its proper position, causing the owner to call a wrecker.
The car didn’t appear to have been in an accident or have damaged any property, but the front passenger window was broken with glass on both the inside and the outside of the car. There was a rock strike on the window and a small rock on the floor behind the front passenger seat.
There also were glass shards extending several feet out from the car, as if the glass was pulled away by hand or by the backswing of a bat or similar object. The woman said while she was around the corner arranging wrecker service, she heard a window breaking and saw three young males running east through a small park.
At first, she didn’t realize it was her car window that had been broken. A witness reported that she was nearby when she heard glass breaking, so she looked out the window and saw two young males standing on either side of the car. ç
