Atlanta Police Zone 2 officers were patrolling the Wal-Mart shopping center at 1801 Howell Mill Rd. NW at 7:57 p.m. on Feb. 8 when they were flagged down by a witness who said a man was beating a woman in the parking lot.
According to the police report, the officer went to the parking lot and saw the man in the front passenger area of the woman’s vehicle. When the suspect saw the officer approaching, he fled and attempted to get in his own vehicle, which was parked nearby. For reasons unknown, the suspect was unable to open his vehicle and began to flee on foot. Officers gave chase. John R. Wilson (previously misidentified by Atlanta Police as Shardai Williams) was arrested and charged with robbery, aggravated assault, cruelty to children, entering an auto, and obstruction of an officer and taken to Fulton County Jail
The woman told police she was in Wal-Mart cashing her income tax refund check. As she was walking back to her vehicle along with her 4-year-old daughter, she noticed the suspect following her. When the woman put her daughter in the vehicle, the man began punching the woman and attempted to take the money, police reported.
Atlanta Fire Rescue determined that neither the woman nor her child were injured during the incident.
John Schaffner