By Joe Johnson
A jealous Oglethorpe County man who allegedly was surveilling his girlfriend at her job in Athens was arrested early Thursday for assaulting her and trying to run down a coworker with his vehicle, Athens-Clarke County police said.
The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. in the parking lot of Wendy’s on South Barnett Shoals Road, where both victims worked, according to police.
A 45-year-old Athens man reported that when he asked his coworker for a smoke, the woman told him he could get a cigarette from her truck.
The man said that as he tried to enter the truck a vehicle driven by 51-year-old David Shane Guest of Lexington jumped a median separating Wendy’s from an adjacent Burger King and tried to hit him with the vehicle, according to police.
Guest then stepped out of his vehicle holding a pipe and chased the victim around the restaurant, at which time the victim went inside the building and called 911, police said.
When Guest’s girlfriend confronted him, he allegedly struck her in the shoulder and chased her with the pipe, police said.
According to police, officers observed tire marks on the median between the two restaurants as well as broken tree limbs.
A lead pipe was recovered from the suspect’s truck, police said.
The suspect’s girlfriend reportedly told police that earlier that day, multiple people informed her that Guest was in a nearby parking lot, stalking her, and when she confronted him at that time, he told her that he could not trust her.
Guest was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, reckless driving and family violence simple battery, police said.
He was a being detained without bail Friday at the Clarke County Jail
Anyone who is in an abusive relationship can seek advice and services by calling Project Safe’s 24-hour hotline at (706) 543-3331, or by visiting http://www.project-safe.org.