Andrew Griffith

Name:
Griffith, Andrew Douglas Allen

Date of Booking:
03/10/2026

Reason(s) For Booking:
Agg Assault On Officer Engaged In Duties, Cutting

Simple Battery

Criminal Trespass, Damage Of $500 Or Less

Public Drunkenness

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 03/09/2026 myself and Officer Pressley responded to the BP gas station located at [REDACTED BY AGENCY] in reference to an intoxicated driver. Dispatch stated that complainant, [VICTIM #1], stated that a male arrived at her store in a white SUV with an Oklahoma license plate, went into her store and urinated into a trash can and then left. She stated that the subject was back on scene at this time and was worried because of how intoxicated he seemed and did not think that he needed to be driving.

When I arrived on scene, I observed a white in color Chevy Equinox bearing Oklahoma tag [REDACTED BY AGENCY] sitting stationary at pump 1 with the hazard lights on. I approached the driver side window and observed a person sitting in the driver seat with a blanket over their entire body.

I identified myself and asked the driver to take the blanket off. I repeated the command multiple times and began knocking on the driver door multiple times before the male, later identified as Andrew Griffith, removed the blanket off of his head. The lower half of his body was still covered with the blanket so I asked him to remove his hands from under the blanket so I could see his hands. I had to repeat this command multiple times before Andrew complied. During this time, Andrews eyes appeared to be glassy and bloodshot. He was very slow and lethargic with his movements and was not able to form coherent sentences.

I asked Andrew where he was coming from and he stated “nowhere” I asked if he was from Oklahoma due to his license plate being an Oklahoma tag and he stated no. I then asked where he was headed to and he stated that he was “just trying to make it.” I then asked if he had anything to drink tonight and he stated that he had not. I then asked for his identification multiple times because Andrew would either begin to start looking for it and then stop or he would hand me his phone. I eventually had to ask Andrew if he had a wallet in his back pocket to which he stated yes. I asked him to get the wallet, which ended up being in the floorboard.

Andrew obtained the wallet and finally produced his drivers license, which was issued through the state of Georgia. As I continued to try and gather a story from Andrew as to why he was parked at a gas pump sleeping inside of his vehicle, I asked him if he had information for the vehicle to ensure the validity of said vehicle. Again, [ANDREW] opened up the glove box and proceeded to hand me everything but the registration to the vehicle. Andrew once handed me a notebook and I explained to him that I needed the registration to the vehicle and he pulled a few pieces of paper that were drawings made by a child. I then concluded that Andrew did not have any paperwork for the vehicle or did not know here it was located.

At this time I went inside to speak with [VICTIM #1]. She stated that this was andrews second time being to the store in two hours. She stated that the first time he came, he sat in his vehicle at pump 7 for about 30 minutes. She stated that he came inside and went to the bathroom where he proceeded to urinate into a trash can in the bathroom instead of the toilet. She stated that she was fixing the vape shelf when he came out and that it looked like he was crying and was soaking wet when he came out of the bathroom so she asked him if he was okay and he stated that he just “wanted to go surfing.”

She stated that she informed him that he could go to Florida or California to do that and she stated that at this time, Andrew came over to her, hugged her, and kissed her on her right cheek. [VICTIM #1] informed me that the hug and kiss Andrew gave her was unprovoked and made her feel very uncomfortable. She stated that Andrew then returned to his vehicle and left before returning around 2 hours later.

[VICTIM #1] stated that when Andrew returned, she was outside smoking a cigarette and picking up trash from the parking lot. She stated that he parked his vehicle at pump 1, got out of the drivers seat and into the back seat, and began yelling for her. She stated that at this time, she went inside and called her boss and asked her what she needed to do and she told her to call the police because she believed that he was intoxicated. She stated that other customers were also worried about the state Andrew was in and offered to move his vehicle into a parking spot so he could go to sleep but stated that he refused.

At this time, I returned to the vehicle where Officer Pressley was speaking with Andrew. We then began to ask Andrew if he had someone that he could call to come and pick him or his vehicle up. He stated that he could call a person named [REDACTED] to come. He then handed me his phone and I informed him that I could not get into his phone and that he would need to unlock his phone and call [REDACTED]. Officer Pressley then told him that he could use his phone if he would let him and he would call her to which Andrew gave him permission to do so.

Officer Pressley unlocked his phone and found [REDACTED]’s contact to call her. I observed that Andrews phone was on 4 percent so I pulled out my notebook to write her number down when I heard Officer Pressley tell Andrew to put it down and had his department issued pistol oriented toward Andrew. When I looked at Andrew he had a knife in his right hand holding it by the handle with the blade pointed downward in a violent manner causing myself and Officer Pressley to fear for our personal safety not knowing if he would try to exit the vehicle and use the knife against us.

Verbal commands were issued while Andrew was at gunpoint and seconds later, Andrew dropped the knife in the passenger floorboard and held his hands in the air with a surprised look on his face. Once I knew that Andrew was out of reach of the knife, I opened the door and quickly grabbed his left arm and pinned it against the door frame. I then pulled him out and put him on the ground and placed him into handcuffs.

I then read Andrew his miranda rights to which he wished to speak to us without representation. I asked him why he pulled the knife out and he stated “I didn’t pull out a knife.” I informed him that he did and that he was holding it in a violent manner as to use it and he stated “dude, what the f*ck are you talking about?” Andrew was asked multiple times why he did that and he would not have an answer as if he did not know that he did it although he informed me that he remembers grabbing the knife but did not have a reason as to why he grabbed it.

At this time, Officer Pressley conducted a search incident to arrest and transported Andrew to the Whitfield County Jail. I arrived later and filled a warrantless arrest form (form #71138) and charged Andrew for the following:

16-11-41 Public drunkeness
16-7-21 Criminal trespass
16-5-23 Simple battery
16-5-21 (a) Aggravated assault upon LEO x2

The gray and black benchmade knife that Andrew produced on scene was collected as evidence and placed into property and evidence at the Dalton Police Department.

[End of Narrative]