William Norris

Name of Accused:
Norris, William Fitzgerald

Date of Arrest:
08/26/2024


Charges For Arrest:
Criminal Trespass
Cruelty to Animals
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 08/23/2024
at 19:30, Deputy Maddox was dispatched to [500 BLOCK] Ridley RD, Chatsworth, GA 30705 in reference to a disturbance. Dispatch stated that the caller, [VICTIM ], said that William Norris (Suspect) had killed her dog in front of her children. I, SFC Watson, was nearby and responded as well.
Upon my arrival, I did see a black and white dog on the ground in the yard. The dog was twitching and it had blood on it’s head and in its eyes. It appeared the dog was dying from a serious head injury. The dog appeared to be about twenty feet into the yard from the roadway.
[WITNESS ] was in the yard. I spoke to her and she said she had seen what happened. She said William had been swing an object attached to a rope, possibly a pipe, at the dogs in the yard. She said he then hit the black and white dog in the head. I asked if it happened in the road or the yard. She said he had been swinging at the dogs from the road, but he was in the yard when he hit the dog. There was blood on the ground near the dog. I checked the road way and I did not see blood on the road or near the road. The only blood I saw was where the dog was located.
Subjects on scene did ask if I could put the dog down because it was suffering. I advised them that I would not. I did have Dispatch Animal Control. Dispatch later advised me that Animal Control would not be able to respond and suggested the family take the dog to a veterinarian.
While on scene, I also spoke to [WITNESS ]. She said she lived at [500 BLOCK] Ridley RD. [WITNESS ] said that she had seen the suspect come into the yards and attack the the dogs by swinging an object at them.
I spoke to [VICTIM ]. She lived at this address and the dog had belonged to her. She stated she had seen William Norris come into the yard and attack the dog. She said her three juvenile children had also seen what the suspect did to the dog. She stated the only reason she did not do anything to the suspect was because she had to get the children inside. [VICTIM ] stated the dog was a male Border Collie and was between one and a half and two years old.
Deputy Maddox and Deputy Windom had arrived on scene after me. Subjects on scene had told us that William Norris had walked back towards his house at [400 BLOCK] Ridley RD, Chatsworth, GA 30705. We went to that address. A man answered the door and said that William was not there. The other Deputies and I continued to patrol the area to attempt to locate the suspect, but we did not locate him.
After checking the area, I called [VICTIM ] by phone. I asked if she could call back and let me know if the dog died. She stated that dog had already died.
The Property-General section of this report list the dog with a value of $1.00. This does not represent the actual value of the dog. The actual value of the dog is unknown to me at this time and $1.00 was entered because the report required a value to be entered.
I will be taking a warrant on William Norris for aggravated cruelty to animals for killing the dog. I will also be taking a warrant on William Norris for criminal trespass for coming onto the property without permission for the unlawful purpose of killing the dog.
[End of Narrative]