Wednesday, July 16, 2003
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Wednesday, July 16, 2003 |
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Patient police arrest gun-waving PTC man, but not until the morning after By JOHN MUNFORD
Faced with reports of an armed, irritated and intoxicated man who pointed a gun at three young boys, Peachtree City police waited late Sunday night and early Monday morning to arrest the suspect who had gone back to his residence so he could sober up, police said. The suspect, David Patrick Hepp, 38, had already gone back inside his residence at 342 Welton Way in the Kenton Place subdivision by the time police arrived, said Police Chief James Murray. A 911 dispatcher had confirmed that Hepp and his live-in girlfriend were the only persons in the residence, and officers learned that Hepp was due at work several hours later, Murray said. "If he had come out of the house we'd have arrested him then," Murray said. "But I guess he decided to go to sleep instead." Instead, Hepp stayed in all night and didn't leave until the morning to go to work. Police waited until he had driven out of the subdivision to stop his car and make the arrest so the amount of danger to the public could be reduced, Murray said. Hepp's girlfriend was in the car at the time, but he was unarmed and no one was hurt as the arrest was made, Murray said. Hepp was charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault and three misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct. "It was a good tactical decision to underreact," Murray said, adding that Hepp was "ready for a fight" the evening before and firearms and alcohol "can lead to deadly situations sometimes." Giving Hepp time to sober up also gave officers time to plan how they would arrest him, Murray said. Officers were prepared to use force if necessary, Murray said. Murray said the wait-and-see approach has worked for the department in the past in situations where they have been able to compile a lot of information about a suspect and the situation at hand. Other departments have also employed the tactic with success in certain situations. In this case, police knew there wasn't a hostage or another victim inside, Murray said. "If we had not talked to the girlfriend with the dispatcher, we'd have probably had to go in," Murray said. "It came out very good." The department's SWAT team was at the ready and could have entered the house within minutes if necessary, Murray said. Hepp's Sunday rant started when he pointed the gun at two people who were cleaning the gutters at his residence Sunday evening around 6 p.m., according to police. Hepp allegedly put a clip in the gun at the time to further his point, police said. After they packed up their tools and walked off the property, Hepp followed them in a tantrum, police said. A neighbor asked Hepp what the problem was and Hepp pulled out the gun again and pointed it at the neighbor and three 2-year-old boys who were playing in their yard, Murray said. Officers later found the handgun that was used in the incident a .32-caliber automatic pistol hidden in the attic inside a box, the chief added.
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