Pregnant woman breaks officer’s thumb during arrest

Written by K Bishop

Published October 26, 2022 @ 4:50 PM ET

Cherokee County (September 20, 2022) – A Cherokee Sheriff’s deputy suffered a fractured thumb after an altercation with a pregnant woman during an arrest at a local business.

Deputy Renato Guido arrived at Pee Wee’s Wrecker Service in Woodstock to locate Larecia Shanta Arnold, 36, on an outstanding warrant from Fulton County relating to an incident from September 15. She was arrested for obstruction, driving with a suspended license, identity fraud, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and several other charges during that incident.

Deputies were notified that Arnold was at the business to retrieve her vehicle, which was not insured. Arnold’s driver’s license was also suspended, and there was an active warrant for her arrest for failure to appear. A Pee Wee’s employee was able to identify her for an investigator by a heart-shaped tattoo on her neck.

While Guido spoke with Arnold, she attempted to get into her vehicle. Guido moved to arrest her, and she resisted, attempting to pry the deputy’s hand from her wrist. Arnold struggled and fought the deputy while asking two friends to “get him.” Guido knew she was pregnant, so he attempted to arrest her without using his taser or striking back at her.

A Sergeant arrived and had his shirt torn by Arnold while assisting with the arrest. It took both officers to restrain Arnold and get her into the back seat of Guido’s cruiser. One of the officers had to pull her into the vehicle from the opposite side.

After Arnold was transported to the Cherokee Adult Detention Center, Deputy Guido visited an Urgent Care center for an x-ray, where he was told his left thumb was fractured. He was placed on light duty, and Arnold was charged with felony obstruction, misdemeanor obstruction, interference with government property, and aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer.

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.]

[NARRATIVE #1 on September 20, 2022]

On September 20, 2022 at 1127 hours, I responded to 703 Bascomb Commercial Parkway, Woodstock, GA 30189 (Pee Wee’s Wrecker) in reference to a wanted person located. Corporal Creeden advised me he was going to Pee Wee’s wrecker service to arrest Larecia Shanta Arnold on a warrant from another county.

Corporal Creeden sent me a picture of a Fulton County violation of probation warrant (19SC164386) for Arnold. Corporal Creeden also sent me a picture of Arnold. I recognized Arnold from an incident she was involved on September 15, 2022, and received information Pee Wee’s employees were trying to keep Arnold there until arrived.

I arrived at Pee Wee’s and made contact with Arnold just outside Pee Wee’s front office. I attempted to detain Arnold while I confirmed the warrant through dispatch. I told Arnold she had an active warrant and told her told her to stop walking. Arnold stated “I did not do nothing” and began resisting by pulling away.

Arnold attempted to get inside a parked vehicle in front of Pee Wee’s. I grabbed Arnold’s right arm and pulled her away from the vehicle because I did not know if Arnold had a weapon inside the vehicle. I also did not want to allow Arnold access inside the vehicle and turn the situation into a police chase.

Arnold continued actively resisting by pulling away from me. I attempted to get Arnold under control multiple times, and gave her loud verbal commands to stop resisting. Arnold disregarded my verbal commands and kept trying to get away from me. At this point I told Arnold she was under arrest for obstruction.

Arnold became more aggressive and began grabbing my left thumb trying to break my grip. I told Arnold to stop grabbing me and told her she was hurting me twice. Arnold was able to break my grip and move towards the front of her vehicle. I grabbed Arnold again and she yelled “he’s fighting me”.

Arnold swung her arm and struck my chest, and said she was pregnant. I was aware Arnold was pregnant and chose not to strike her. I also chose not to deploy my taser due to her being pregnant. I requested back up units to respond code 1 (lights and sirens). Arnold kept asking the two individuals she was with to attack me by saying “get him”.

At this point I grabbed Arnold’s right arm and pushed her against the hood of the vehicle. I wrapped my left arm behind her right arm and she was facing me, and used my right forearm to push against her left shoulder pinning her to the hood of the vehicle. Arnold was able to shift her body away from the hood of the vehicle as I had her right arm wrapped from behind with my left arm.

I placed my right arm behind Arnold’s shoulders and applied pressure holding her close to me. I did not apply pressure around her neck at any point. Sergeant Rose arrived on scene and assisted me arrest Arnold. Sergeant Rose stood behind Arnold and began trying to get her arms behind her back.

I heard Sergeant Rose tell Arnold to let go of his uniform shirt twice, and saw Arnold pull the shirt away from Sergeant Rose’s body. Sergeant Rose was able to get Arnold’s arms behind her back, and I handcuffed her wrists behind her back. Sergeant Rose double locked the handcuffs. Sergeant Rose and I escorted Arnold to the back of my patrol vehicle.

Arnold continued to resist and refused to get in the rear of my patrol vehicle. I had to push Arnold inside the back of the vehicle. Arnold would not get her feet inside the vehicle and kept trying to stand up. Sergeant Rose had to go around my patrol vehicle and pull Arnold by her arms to get her to move back in the seat.

I was able to close the driver side door, and Sergeant Rose closed the passenger side door. I saw Sergeant Rose’s uniform shirt was ripped as a result of Arnold pulling on his uniform shirt while being handcuffed. I was not able to identify the two individuals Arnold was with. The female she was with spoke to me and agreed all Arnold had to do was allow me to detain her.

I transported Arnold to the adult detention center. On the way to the jail Arnold kept saying she was bleeding all over. I told Arnold I would have the jail medical staff check her upon arrival. I arrived at the adult detention center and relinquished custody to the intake officers. I checked the back seat of my patrol vehicle and did not see any blood. I filled out the proper incoming paperwork and turned it in to the property officers.

Arnold was charged with the following:

-O.C.G.A. 16-10-24 Felony Obstruction for resisting arrest while fighting me

-O.C.G.A. 16-10-24 Misdemeanor Obstruction for resisting Sergeant Rose commands to place her hands behind her back after being told she was under arrest

-O.C.G.A. 16-7-24 Interference with Government Property for ripping Sergeant Rose police uniform shirt

I returned in service and spoke with Sergeant Bryant. I informed Sergeant Bryant my left thumb was injured and I was in pain. Sergeant Bryant instructed me to go to the Northside Hospital Urgent Care and get checked. I went to the urgent care located at 684 Sixes Road, suite 125, Canton, GA and met with Sergeant Bryant. Sergeant Bryant completed a worker’s compensation packet and reviewed it with me.

I was checked out by a physician and had X-Ray’s completed on my left thumb. I was diagnosed with a fracture on my left thumb and was placed on light duty status. I gave the paperwork to Sergeant Bryant and I returned to the adult detention center. I charged Arnold with the additional charge:

-O.C.G.A. 16-5-24 Aggravated Battery Against a Law Enforcement Officer for causing the fracture to my left thumb

I returned in service and spoke with Deputy Robles. Deputy Robles informed me Arnold did have a valid warrant through Fulton County for failure to appear (warrant No.18SC162409), which was entered into GCIC/NCIC on September 19, 2022. Deputy Robles stated he was not sure on the status of the violation of probation status, but it did not return on GCIC/NCIC.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #2 on September 20, 2022]

On September 20, 2022, at approximately 11:19 am, I contacted Pee Wee’s towing service via telephone following up to obtain information on the black Chrysler 300, GA tag [REDACTED], that was impound on September 15, 2022 during my traffic stop for case number SO22-012937 and SO22- 012940.

I gained knowledge that Larecia Shanta Arnold ([REDACTED]) had been released on bond from our jail, and I wanted to verify with Pee Wee’s if the vehicle had been released since it did not have insurance the day it was impounded. The desk clerk at Pee Wee’s who answered my call informed me that there was a male and two females at their office when I call working on getting the vehicle released.

Since I knew Larecia could have more pending charges from the incident on September 15, 2022, I asked the desk clerk if either of the females had a tattoo of a heart on her neck. Based from my previous arrest, I knew Larecia had a tattoo matching that description.

While I was waiting confirmation from Pee Wee’s about the tattoo, I contacted Cpl. Carter to inform him about Larecia trying to release the vehicle from Pee Wee’s. Cpl. Carter ran Larecia through GCIC/NCIC, and informed me that she had an active warrant through Fulton County for failure to appear, warrant No. 18SC162409, which was entered into GCIC/NCIC on September 19, 2022, very shortly after she was released on bond from our Adult Detention Center.

Pee Wee’s called me back shortly after to inform me that one of the females had the heart tattoo on her neck, so I informed her we had units going to their location to make contact with the female because she had active warrants. Pee Wee’s said they were working on the release paperwork. I began to travel towards Pee Wee’s office at 703 Bascomb Commercial Parkway, Woodstock GA.

While in route, I learned Deputy Guido had arrived on scene and made contact with Larecia, but got involved in a fight with her while attempting to place her under arrest. I activated my emergency equipment to expedite my travel to Pee Wee’s, while other units also began to respond.

Upon my arrival, Deputy Guido was already in route to the Cherokee County ADC transporting Larecia who was being disorderly. Sgt. Rose was following Deputy Guido. I noticed an accident had occurred on Bells Ferry Road in front of Pee Wee’s office, so the responding units were assisting the involved parties of the accident.

I went over to Pee Wee’s and met with [WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2] who were standing by the Chrysler 300. I spoke with [WITNESS #2] first who informed me that Larecia is her cousin, and she had brought her and [WITNESS #1] over to Pee Wee’s to pick up the Chrysler. I asked [WITNESS #2] who was going to drive to Chrysler, and she said that Larecia was going to drive it.

I told [WITNESS #2] that Larecia could not drive away because her license ([REDACTED]) is suspended for failure to appear in court. [WITNESS #2] then said she did not know Larecia’s license was suspended, and she was going to find a spot to park the Chrysler and work to have someone else with a valid driver’s license come pick it up.

I then spoke with [WITNESS #1], and he informed me that Larecia is just a friend that he has known for about a year. He said that he helped Larecia with the vehicle purchase and that is why it is registered to him, but Larecia makes the loan payments. [WITNESS #1] then said that the last time he saw Larecia was about two weeks ago, and all he knows is that she needs the vehicle to work so she can provide for her children.

I ran [WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2] through GCIC/NCIC. The returns for [WITNESS #2] advised she had a valid license, and the returns for [WITNESS #1] advised he did not have a valid driver’s license. [WITNESS #2] asked permission at one of the businesses at 703 Bells Ferry Road to park the vehicle there while she went back to her house to pick up someone to drive the Chrysler. [WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2] then left in a silver KIA Optima, GA [REDACTED], registered to [WITNESS #2].

[End of Narrative]