By Joe Johnson
A video showing a portion of an Athens man's ride through a Gwinnett County neighborhood where police said he intentionslly crashed into 30 parked vehicles is circulating on the internet.
The uncredited video was apparently taken by someone using a cellphone during the incident in the Duluth-area Berkley Hills Estates.
Patrick Humes, 37, of Meadowview Road, who drove a Mercedes-Benz G-Class luxury SUV, also known as G-Wagons, over front lawns, intentionally crashed into cars parked in driveways and did donuts in the neighborhood possibly had been experiencing a mental health episode, Gwinnett County Police Department spokesman Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle said.
Police were notified of the incident by area residents at 2:45 p.m.
About two hours later, officers located the SUV where it had been abandoned at a tire repair shop four miles away from Berkeley Hills Estates, according to police, and Humes was subsequently found and arrested in a McDonald’s next to the tire shop,
"Humes may have been suffering a mental health crisis at the time, though the exact motive for damaging so many vehicles is not known." Winderweedle said,
The officer said no evidence that Humes fired a gun during the incident was found and no guns were located.
Humes was charged with 28 counts of second-degree criminal damage to property, and as of Thursday afternoon he continued to be held with no bail set at the Gwinnett County Jail.
The incident occurred two weeks after Humes was arrested for an incident at burton + BURTON, a business on Cleveland Road in western Athens-Clarke County, where he behaved in a manner that "warranted a justifiable and reasonable alarm" among employees, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The warrant alleges that he arrived at burton + BURTON early the morning of Aug. 9, harassed employees and shined a flashlight into vehicles in the parking lot.
Humes was charged with loiyering or prowling and released on a $1,300 bond, with conditions that, among other things, he wear an ankle monitor and provide proof of mental health treatment. according to court records.
Three days later Humes allegedly violated his bond conditions by committing the new offenses of reckless driving, disorderly conduct and obstruction of law enforcement in Greene County, court records indicate.
He reportedly failed to charge his ankle monitor.
Records also reveal that Humes was arrested in Athens on Jan. 2 for driving while his license was suspended and giving a false name to police.
The charges were dismissed on June 7 by Solicitor General Will Fleenor because his "assessment of the public interest and the interests of justice warrant termination of prosecution."
So I was wrong. I thought 1st article said he WAS out on bond.
The public needs to be protected from these people.
Like Barney Fife says, "He's a NUT". 😄