Police Activity near Delk Road and Franklin Gateway this morning. Full story here:
At approximately 7:31 this morning Officer Brian Wallace conducted a traffic stop for a moving violation at the intersection of Delk Road and Franklin Gateway.
The vehicle, a white Ford Fusion with three male occupants, initially pulled to the left shoulder in heavy morning traffic. Officer Wallace had the driver navigate the suspect vehicle across traffic and onto the right shoulder. During his initial encounter, Officer Wallace observed the driver of the suspect vehicle cooperate but noted that his body language seemed odd, so he had the driver exit the vehicle. Officer Wallace also noted that he smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and called for a backup officer to assist in a vehicle search.
Sergeant Brian Honea arrived as backup and as he approached Officer Wallace and the suspect, the suspect attempted to reenter his vehicle. Officer Wallace and Sergeant Honea both attempted to remove the suspect from his vehicle. At one point the suspect was almost pulled completely back out of the vehicle, but the passenger placed the car in drive and launched the suspect vehicle forward knocking Honea to the ground while Officer Wallace was pinned inside the vehicle against the driver seat.
The suspects wrestled with Officer Wallace inside their vehicle at speeds up to (71) MPH through congested roads, muddy dirt roads and rough terrain. Officer Wallace stated that roughly half way into the more than one mile kidnapping he decided to pull the driver door closed in order to keep from being thrown out onto the roadway in traffic. One suspect exited the vehicle before it stopped and was later apprehended by officers and a K-9 team.
The suspects are all from Massachusetts and have been identified as gang members. Two handguns, which were thrown from the vehicle have been recovered. All three suspects are under arrest and will be booked into Cobb Adult Detention Center later today.
While charges are not finalized yet, Cory Moody (driver), Eyzaiya Moody and Walter Gadson Jr (passengers) all face charges ranging from Assault, Obstruction, Fleeing and Eluding, Kidnaping, Felon in possession of a firearm including the original traffic violation charges.
Chief Flynn noted: “I could not be prouder of the group of Marietta Police Officers who were engaged in this situation. Because they are so highly trained, self-disciplined and well-coordinated they were able to end this extremely dangerous situation without anyone being injured or killed; officer or suspects.”
Special thanks to the Georgia State Patrol Troopers, Cobb County Police Officers and Cobb County Detectives who assisted us in the apprehension of these suspects.
Address/Location
Marietta Police Department
240 Lemon St NE
Marietta, GA 30060
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 770-794-5300
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