Name:
Roberts, Roy Earl
Date of Booking:
05/14/2023
Reason(s) For Booking:
SIMPLE BATTERY – FAMILY VIOLENCE
SIMPLE BATTERY – FAMILY VIOLENCE
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
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 May 13, 2023]
On 05/13/2023 at approximately 2305 hours, I was dispatched to [200 BLOCK] Sportarten Strasse, which is inside Innsbruck, in reference to a drunk driver. The reporting person said that the drunk driver had pulled out a knife out on them and threatened to kill people.
I was looking for the address but was unable to since the house numbers stopped at [200 BLOCK]. Officer Epperson said that she would be going to [200 BLOCK] Sportarten to see if that was the actual address. When I got on scene at [200 BLOCK] Sportarten Strasse there was a woman in the front yard talking to Officer Epperson.
The woman said that she was in fear for her life and all the children in the house including the adults. She said that the person who left pulled out a knife on them and said that he was going kill them. The reporting person’s name was [REDACTED BY AGENCY], was hesitant to call law enforcement because the person who threatened everyone with the knife was her daughter’s husband.
I asked what was the driver’s name and where was he going, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that his name is Roy Roberts, and he lives at [1200 BLOCK] Black Road which is in the county. I advised dispatch to see if White County units could check the residence to see if Roy was home. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] advised that all the adults in the house had been drinking for most of the night.
Officer Epperson and I went to check on the other people who were in the house. When [REDACTED BY AGENCY] let us in through the front door, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was standing in the kitchen. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] is [REDACTED BY AGENCY] husband and they were visiting from North Carolina for the weekend.
I asked [REDACTED BY AGENCY] to step outside with me while Officer Epperson talked to everyone else inside. Before I went outside with [REDACTED BY AGENCY], multiple people were coming from the upstairs to come downstairs to talk to Officer Epperson.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] told me that his stepdaughter, [REDACTED BY AGENCY], and Roy are husband and wife. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] got into a small argument over an unknown reason in a hot tub out on the back deck. Roy went inside and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] followed him.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was talking to Roy about doing better as a father and husband for [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and their daughter [REDACTED BY AGENCY]. Roy was getting more upset and angrier with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] as the conversation went on.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] told me that he was standing in the doorway to the back deck when Roy and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] were having this conversation. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that Roy did not like the way [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was talking to him, so he slammed the door in [REDACTED BY AGENCY] face separating him from [REDACTED BY AGENCY].
When [REDACTED BY AGENCY] opened the door trying to get to [REDACTED BY AGENCY]. Roy pushed [REDACTED BY AGENCY] out the back door and slammed it again. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that when he opened the door again, his stepson [REDACTED BY AGENCY] got out the hot tub to see what was going on.
As [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] were entering the house, they seen that Roy has his hand around [REDACTED]’s neck. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] went over to separate Roy from [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and when [REDACTED BY AGENCY] grabbed Roy’s arm, Roy pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket saying that he would gut him.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that the blade was out, and Roy was threatening the family. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that everyone backed away from Roy to let him leave the residence. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] came inside the house from the back deck and tried to keep Roy from leaving since he had been drinking.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that when [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was trying to keep Roy in the house, Roy grabbed [REDACTED BY AGENCY] by the neck and pushed her away as he went out the front door. I asked [REDACTED] if he would write a written statement on everything we talked about, he agreed.
I then went inside the residence with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] to talk to Officer Epperson about what the rest of the family said. Before I talked Officer Epperson, White County said that they could see a white male walking around the residence but would not come to the door. White County said they had blue lights activated and their spotlights turned on towards the house.
White County also said that they saw him looking outside at them but still would not come outside. I called the Sergeant for White County and said that we would have charges on Roy. The Sergeant on shift said that they would need a warrant on hand before they made further contact. I told the Sergeant that I would secure a warrant for Roy.
I first confirmed with the Sergeant that it was Roy at the residence by asking [REDACTED BY AGENCY] what kind of truck Roy had. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that Roy had a silver in color Chevrolet truck with a black toolbox in the bed. The Sergeant at White County said that the truck was in the driveway of the residence.
When I left the scene at [200 BLOCK] Sportarten Strasse to secure a warrant for Roy, Officer Epperson said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] called Roy and he came out of the home on his own. White County put Roy into custody at [1200 BLOCK] Black Road and transported him to the White County Detention Center.
I applied for and received a warrant for Aggravated Assault against Roy for pulling a knife out on his family members during a family dispute. I went to the White County Detention Center to speak with Roy about what happened. When I arrived at the Detention Center, Roy was in Holding Cell 3 found in the booking area.
I asked Roy what happened, he said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] attacked him during an argument. Roy said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the chair he was sitting in. Roy then said that he felt threatened enough to pull out his pocketknife but did not pull out the blade.
Roy said that he told multiple times that he wanted to go home and to get off him. Roy then said that he left the residence in his truck without incident. I asked Roy why he didn’t stay on scene and he said he didn’t feel safe. Roy also said that he didn’t know why he was in jail and that the entire situation was blown up out of proportion. I then left the Detention Center and went back to Helen.
While I was securing the warrant for Roy, Officer Epperson continued to question the residents at [200 BLOCK] Sportarten Strasse and got written statements from [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] did not want to write statements at that time. Officer Epperson drafted a supplemental report and attached it to this report. I gathered all relevant information in reference to this report.
[End of Narrative]
[NARRATIVE #2 on May 14, 2023]
On 05/14/2023 at approximately 1930 hours, I asked Officer Epperson to call [REDACTED BY AGENCY] to further interview her, [REDACTED BY AGENCY], and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] on what happened the night prior. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] agreed and said that it would have to be later in the night when she wasn’t busy.
On 05/15/2023 at approximately 0030 hours, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] arrived at Helen Police Department. Officer Epperson took [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] into the Supervisors Office to talk to them and I took [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] to the break room.
I went over [REDACTED BY AGENCY] written statement to further clarify what happened since I could not interview him myself the day prior. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] told me that he seen Roy have his hand around [REDACTED BY AGENCY] neck so he went inside to break them up.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] then said that when he broke up Roy and [REDACTED BY AGENCY], Roy pulled a silver pocket knife out and pointed it at him stating that he would put him 6 feet under. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said when Roy pulled the pocket knife out, he backed away.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] then said that when Roy was leaving, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] tried stopping him from leaving. When tried to stop Roy, Roy grabbed her by the neck and shoved her away. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] put all of this in a written statement which is attached to this report.
I then asked [REDACTED BY AGENCY] if she saw anything from where she was on the back deck. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that she did see some of the altercation through a window and heard the yelling coming from inside. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] said she couldn’t see much but that she did see Roy pull out a knife and point it at [REDACTED BY AGENCY].
She then said that she was having a panic attack after seeing the knife pointed at [REDACTED BY AGENCY]. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] did agree to write a statement which is also attached to this report. Both [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] could describe the pocket knife that Roy pulled out. After I got both [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] side of the altercation, I went to the Supervisors Office to hear what [REDACTED BY AGENCY] had to say.
[REDACTED BY AGENCY] said that she could remember a lot from the night prior, but she does remember [REDACTED BY AGENCY] getting pushed out the door by Roy. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] also said that she remembers Roy pulling out the pocket knife on everyone, so she left the room because she was scared. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] did write a statement which is attached to this report.
I applied for and received warrants against Roy for Aggravated Assault and Simple Battery. All warrants and statements were attached to this report. I gathered all relevant information in reference to the report.
[End of Narrative]