Zachary Petrus

Name:
Petrus, Zachary Aaron

Date of Booking:
10/18/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
No Insurance

Disorderly Conduct

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 Saturday, October 18th 2025 at approximately 1630 hours, I was staged at the intersection of E Main St. and Joe Frank Harris Pkwy, in reference to an ongoing protest.

During the course of the otherwise peaceful protest, Lt. Cole 170, Lt. Firth 46, and Sgt. Starnes 1116, and myself observed a black in color Ford F250, approach the assembled crowd of protestors that were stationary on the grassy knoll on E Main St. at 405 E Main St. (Chipotle). The aforementioned truck approached the crowd at a drastically reduced rate of speed in the furthest right hand lane, at which point the driver Mr. Zachary Petrus applied the accelerator of his vehicle and the brakes simultaneously at a low rate of speed, producing a large black cloud of exhaust smoke completely covering the protestors, and drastically reducing visibility on the roadway.

Among the crowd, was victim and her two small children JUV #1 and JUV#2, who stated to Sgt. Starnes 1116, that she had a reasonable fear for her safety and that of her children due to Mr. Petrus’ actions, and the lingering cloud of exhaust smoke left by his vehicle, their extreme proximity to the vehicle, and the noxious fumes created by the cloud.

As Mr. Petrus was proceeding in front of the crowd, billowing a cloud of exhaust smoke upon them, I activated the emergency lights and sirens on my department issued marked patrol unit, and initiated a traffic stop on Mr. Petrus’ vehicle, with it yielding at a final stop directly behind Chipotle.

I then utilized a rear approach to the drivers side of the vehicle, while Lt. Firth 46 made a rear approach to the passenger side in order to make contact with the occupants in the vehicle.

At this time I ordered the driver Mr. Petrus to step out of the vehicle, at which time I noticed a bulge, and belt clip at the front of his pants consistent with indicators of a holstered firearm. Mr. Petrus was then taken into custody, and handcuffed with both hands behind his back, the handcuffs were then checked for proper fit and double locked to ensure no further tightening.

I then searched Mr. Petrus incident to arrest and located within his waistband a Glock 19 replica pellet pistol and holster (later turned over to Ms. [REDACTED]). No further contraband was located during the search of Mr. Petrus who was then placed in the rear seat of my department issued patrol vehicle which is searched prior to and after transport yielding negative for contraband.

The remaining occupants were then removed from the vehicle and and identified as JUV #3, JUV#4, and Mr. [REDACTED].

Due to Mr. Petrus’ vehicle having no license plate, a GCIC inquiry of the vehicle was conducted against the VIN of the vehicle which yielded a return out of Tennessee. Unable to validate the insurance status of the Vehicle due to it being last registered out of state (Tennessee), I then asked Mr. Petrus if he had active insurance on the vehicle to which he stated he did not as he just purchased the vehicle.

Mr. Petrus was then transported to the Bartow County Jail, where he was turned over to jail staff without incident. Mr. Petrus’ vehicle was then removed from the roadway by Agape Towing, as next on list. A copy of the tow sheet is attached to this electronic case file.

Due to the totality of the circumstances, victim’s reasonable fear for the safety of herself and that of her children, Mr. Petrus’ vehicle’s insurance status, and the overall tumultuous nature of Mr. Petrus’ actions, warrants were obtained for Disorderly Conduct, and No Insurance.

The juveniles within Mr. Petrus’ vehicle were left in the care of Lt. Cole 170 and Lt. Firth 46, during Mr. Petrus’ transport. The Juvenile’s were ultimately removed from the scene by Ms. [REDACTED] as the parent of the driver and one of the Juveniles.

[End of Narrative]