Richard Coker

Name of Accused:
Coker, Richard David

Date of Arrest:
07/12/2024


Charges For Arrest:
Disorderly Conduct
Obstruction- Resisting Officer/Arrest
Public Drunkenness
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On 07/12/2024
, I, Officer Hill with the Centerville Police Department responded to 3500 Highway 41 N (Circle K at the corner on N Highway 41 and Gunn Rd) in reference to a suspicious person and Human Trafficking.
While enroute, dispatch informed myself and Ofc. Moore that a 5-year-old was hiding in the beer cooler and the complaint believes that the child is being trafficked. The child was laying on the floor screaming and cussing and when the complaint asked the child’s name, [REDACTED], the parents denied that was his name and had a different one. We were then updated that one of the parents left the scene in a Grey mini van (GA Tag [REDACTED]), which Ofc. Moore conducted a traffic stop on.
Once on scene I made with the complaint, Richard Coker, who advised me of the situation that dispatch informed me of. Coker Had on a Grey shirt with stains, a black pair of basketball shorts along with brown colored crocs. I smelled the odor of an achoholic beverage on his person as he had slurred speech and struggled to maintain his balance. At this time, I requested additional units to be enroute to my location as a WRPD was enroute to me. I then made with, [WITNESS ], who was the mother of the child advised that Coker initiated the altercation between him and her son.
As I stepped inside the store to receive her side of the story Coker was leaving the gas station with what appeared to be an 18 pack of Coors light beer. I spoke again with Coker and Coker informed me that the child was outside the parking lot and begun to “talk sh*t to me”, Coker then stated he offered to buy the kid a drink. I asked Mr. Coker for his ID and asked him to please stay on scene to possibly fill out a witness statement. Coker stated he had to go but would offer me his phone number to him. I then spoke to the store clerk who informed me that all she witnessed was the child cussing out Coker in the store.
As I was leaving the store to speak again with [WITNESS ], she informed me that Coker had apparently didn’t know what car was his. I had Coker step to the rear of his vehicle and Coker started to argue with me that he doesn’t need to stay and the CCTV footage caught everything, I explained that the CCTV footage will not record what was said. By this time WRPD had arrived on scene, one of the officers spoke with Coker to get his side of events while I explained the situation to the other officer. I spoke with [WITNESS ], who advised that she was sitting in her car with her three sons when Coker parked next to them stepped out of the vehicle and an altercation stated between him and the 5-year-old. Coker then began to speak calm and nicely and offered to buy the family drinks in the store. While both parties where in store, he began to verbally argue with the child again.
Ofc. Moore arrived on scene with the subject from the minivan, Christopher Knight, who had an active warrant from Bibb County, upon inspections of both ID’s and not being able to understand Knight’s relation to the situation nor if Coker knew Knight, WRPD officers compared Knights ID photo to Coker to verify that IDs were not switched before Law Enforcement arrived on scene. I instructed Coker to turn around and place his hands behind his back, in which I was told “No I am not.”
I then along with all the other Officers on scene grabbed Coker’s arms and put them behind his back as I handcuffed him. The whole time Coker was attempting to push his arms away and pull away from officers. I arrested Coker at 01:51 hours for Public Drunkenness (36-22), Resisting/Interfering with Officers (36-21) and Disorderly Conduct (36-19). I used two pairs of handcuffs since Coker had broad shoulders, and loosened the handcuffs twice since he stated that the Handcuffs were painful. On body Camera it is shown that the handcuffs are checked for fit with a one finger gap and double locked each time. Coker’s vehicle was towed from the scene.
After I ran [WITNESS ]’s information through GCIC and verified it, I was informed that her license was canceled in defiantly due to child support being owed. I instructed her not be driving and waiting for a ride to the local hotel at the time we cleared the scene.
I transported Coker to Houston County Detention Center where during the ride I was called insults, berated repeatedly and at one point, as I was stopping at a red light, threw himself into the partition. Once arrived at the jail, Coker was still being passively aggressive toward both ofc. Moore and myself by insulting both of us for our appearance and the questions that where asked.
[End of Narrative]