Suspect threatened woman before getting arrested
A woman’s plea for help resulted in an arrest, the confiscation of a stolen gun and a seizure of methamphetamine.
“It was a good call,” East Ellijay Police Department (EEPD) Assistant Chief of Police Shane Bowman said of the Oct. 1 incident. “Nobody was injured, nobody was hurt.”
This chain of events began when a woman with her child on Riverside Drive knocked on a neighbor’s door saying a man with a gun was trying to kill her, Bowman said.
“The guy was threatening her with a gun, threatening to kill her,” he said.
The neighbors called 911, and EEPD Deputy Christopher Hawthorne along with Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christopher Jump and Sergeant Tommy Humphries
arrived to intervene.
“We very, very rarely have any calls there,” Bowman said of the Riverside Drive neighborhood.
When they arrived at the woman’s house, they found Richard Edward Payne.
He was arrested with no incident, Bowman said.
Payne is a Hall County resident.
After searching him, police found a firearm reported stolen from Hall County, Bowman said.
He also had 33.9 grams of methamphetamine.
“A little over an ounce of methamphetamine is a lot on the street,” Bowman said. “It would definitely be quite a few thousand dollars.”
Payne was charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, being in possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and trafficking methamphetamine.
Getting any amount of methamphetamine or stolen weapons off the street is “always a plus,” said Bowman.
In interviews after his arrest, Payne admitted to picking up drugs in different places and delivering them in Gilmer and Hall counties, Bowman said.
“If you see anything suspicious, call us,” he said.