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Written by: E. George
Published May 23, 2024 @ 9:00 PM ET
BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. – An Acworth woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly threatening two men and several deputies and setting the woods on the Army Corps of Engineers property on fire on Friday, April 5, 2024. Yihua Wiseman was charged with third-degree arson, felony willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and two counts of felony terroristic threats and acts.
Bartow County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance near the Lake Forest Country Club on Oak Beach Drive in Acworth at approximately 8:50 PM. They immediately noticed a fire in the forest near the club’s entrance, and moments later, Bartow Fire Department personnel arrived to extinguish the flames.
The two male victims explained that Wiseman, who resides on Wilson Street, adjacent to the country club, approached them while they were dumping pine straw at the woodline of the Army Corps property. They said she yelled at them, and they told her to mind her own business and return to her home.
The victims said Wiseman became enraged and shook the hammer at them, asking, “Are you ready to meet Jesus?” She grabbed a toilet paper roll from her residence, covered it in an accelerant, lit it, and threw it over the fence onto the pine straw, igniting the surrounding woods.
When they warned her about calling the police, she replied, “I’m going in the house to get a knife to take care of you.” At the sound of the approaching sirens, she retreated into her home.
Multiple witnesses saw what had transpired, and one woman recorded it on her cell phone; she emailed a copy to the deputy to be submitted as evidence. Security cameras also captured the incident.
Additional deputies arrived and attempted to speak with Wiseman, but she refused to open her door and step outside. One deputy noted that she “appeared to be mentally unstable and was speaking incomprehensible sentences.”
They saw that she was pointing several knives at them with one hand while yelling and cussing. Before closing the curtains and walking away from the door, she told them they would need to come inside and get her.
Wiseman continued to refuse to cooperate despite being presented with arrest and search warrants. She came to the door holding knives and a sword “to prevent and intimidate deputies from entering her home,” one deputy stated.
Wiseman told them, “You all will have to kill me,” several times. Patrol deputies maintained a perimeter until Bartow County SWAT arrived and took over the scene.
Authorities collected a sword, a kitchen knife, and a hammer from her home as evidence. They transported her to Cartersville Medical for treatment for injuries she sustained from less lethal options utilized during her arrest.
Once she was medically cleared, law enforcement transported her to the Bartow County Jail.
This case is pending.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On Friday April 5th, 2024 at approximately 2051 hours I was dispatched to 180 Oak Beach Dr Acworth, GA in reference to a disturbance at the Lake Forest Country Club. Upon arrival I observed a fire at the entrance to the country club in the woods. Bartow Fire arrived on scene and helped ensure the fire was out. I then met with the complainant Mr. [VICTIM #1] who stated the female resident at [100 BLOCK] Wilson St, which is adjacent to the country club, had threatened him and another person and had also started a fire in the woods. [VICTIM #1] stated the female suspect had taken a toilet paper roll, lit it on fire and had thrown it into the woods, catching the woods on fire.
I immediately attempted to make contact with the suspect later identified as Yihua Wiseman. I knocked several times at the back door and announced “Sheriff’s Office” with no response. Deputy Lehmann made contact with Ms. Wiseman at the front door and I walked around to join him. Ms. Wiseman refused to open the door and step outside to speak with deputies. She appeared to be mentally unstable and was speaking incomprehensible sentences. Ms. Wiseman was holding multiple knives in one hand and pointing them at myself and Deputy Lehmann while yelling and cussing. She made the comment that we would have to come inside and get her. Ms. Wiseman then closed the curtains and walked away from the door.
After other units arrived on scene I made contact with the victims to get statements. I spoke with [VICTIM #1] and [VICTIM #2] who stated they had collected some pinestraw and took it into the woodline to dump it on Army Corps of Engineer’s property. They were approached on the other side of the fence by Ms. Wiseman who was standing in the roadway and carrying a hammer. She seemed upset they were dumping the pinestraw and made the comment that it needed to be burned. Ms. Wiseman kept yelling at the men and they continued to tell Ms. Wiseman that she needed to mind her own business and return to her home which is approximately 50 feet from the fenceline.
Ms. Wiseman became enraged and held the hammer in the air shaking it at the two men and made the statement to [VICTIM #2] “Are you ready to meet Jesus?”. Ms. Wiseman went inside and got a toilet paper roll and covered it in some type of accelerant. Ms. Wiseman lit the paper roll on fire and threw the toilet paper roll over the fence onto the pine straw where it ignited the woods on the Army Corp property. [VICTIM #1] yelled at Ms. Wiseman and told her they were calling the police and Ms. Wiseman said, “I’m going in the house to get a knife to take care of you”. [VICTIM #1] and [VICTIM #2] stated that’s when they heard sirens in the distance and Ms. Wiseman retreated into her home. Mr. [WITNESS #1] was also standing with [VICTIM #1] and [VICTIM #2] and corroborated their testimonies.
I spoke with a [WITNESS #2] who witnessed Ms. Wiseman set fire to the woods as well and confirmed [VICTIM #1] and [VICTIM #2]s testimony. I spoke with a [WITNESS #3] next, and she was able to record the incident on her phone. [WITNESS #3] emailed a copy of the video to my email address to be saved as evidence. I was also emailed security footage of the incident from security cameras on the property.
Deputies on scene continued to attempt to make contact with Ms. Wiseman and have her step outside but she continued to refuse to cooperate even after being presented with a warrant for her arrest and a search warrant for her home. Ms. Wiseman would come to the door and speak with deputies while holding knives and/or a sword to prevent and intimidate deputies from entering her home. Ms. Wiseman made the comment “you all will have to kill me” several times. Patrol deputies held a perimeter until Bartow County SWAT arrived on scene and the scene was turned over to them.
A sword, kitchen knife and a hammer were collected from Ms. Wiseman’s home as evidence. Ms. Wiseman was charged with two counts of Felony Terroristic Threats, Arson in the 3rd Degree and Felony Obstruction. Ms Wiseman was transported to Cartersville Medical where she was treated for injuries acquired from less lethal options that were used against her during the incident. Her injuries were photographed and Ms. Wiseman was cleared and released to the Bartow County Jail
[End of Narrative]