Wednesday, May 8, 2002
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Wednesday, May 8, 2002 |
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PTC's top cop tackles attack suspect By JOHN MUNFORD
A suspect wanted by police for attacking a woman at a Peachtree City hotel Sunday morning was arrested hours later thanks to a sharp-eyed detective and a quick-acting police chief. Randall Gale Tate, 30, was arrested by Police Chief James Murray after he was spotted walking on Huddleston Drive by Cpl. Jennifer Michel while she was driving home. The chief, who was not in uniform, stopped his unmarked vehicle near Tate and asked the suspect for directions to a restaurant, said Maj. Mike DuPree of the Peachtree City Police Department. While Tate was distracted, Murray forced him up against the vehicle and to the ground to safely make the arrest, DuPree said. Authorities were afraid Tate, who has a long arrest record, would commit a carjacking or other serious crime in an attempt to leave town and escape the police dragnet, DuPree said. "He has a pretty extensive (criminal) background," DuPree said. According to warrants for Tate's arrest, police believe he intended to sexually assault the victim when he burst into her hotel room. He was living at the Days Inn, where the incident occurred, while he worked a construction job for a subcontractor at the Home Depot construction site in Peachtree City, DuPree said. Tate is charged with aggravated assault and burglary. His bond has been set at $100,000. While Murray was the hero of the moment, it was the victim's mother who forced Tate to flee the hotel room, jumping on his back and hitting him after he attacked her daughter, DuPree said. The mother had been in the bathroom and heard her daughter scream for help, DuPree said. The arrest came after about 15 officers conducted a manhunt for the suspect, DuPree noted. Two women told police that Tate knocked on the door of their hotel room, but they didn't let him in, DuPree added. As the investigation began, Peachtree City police worked with the High Point, N.C., Police Department to obtain photographs of the suspect, who lived there before he took the job at the Home Depot site, DuPree said. Armed with that photo and information that Tate had a tattoo on his face, police visited stores that were open, asking them to call if that suspect showed up, DuPree said. DuPree lauded the cooperation the department received from High Point police officials.
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