Ex-firefighter who threatened to kill black couple indicted on 7 felony counts
Ex-firefighter who threatened to kill black couple indicted on 7 felony counts
David Ferguson 08 Dec 2016 at 10:32 ET
The former Savannah firefighter who went on a drunken, racist rampage in an Applebee’s restaurant and menaced a black couple with a gun has been indicted on seven felony counts of aggravated assault.
Savannah Now reported Thursday morning that former Capt. Barry Arnold — Savannah’s 2014 Firefighter of the Year — was indicted by a Chatham County grand jury for attacking and threatening to kill Marquist Curtis and Amber Phillips on October of 2015.
“Marquist and Amber are glad this has finally been done,” said Will Claiborne, Curtis and Phillips’ attorney to WSAV. “Frustrated that it took so long. They’re happy to finally see the process move forward. They are one step closer to obtaining some justice to what happened to them and are looking forward to their day in court.”
Arnold is currently charged with 7 felonies: Two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm, public drunkenness, simple battery and disorderly conduct.
Raw Story reported Wednesday that the four misdemeanor charges originally filed against Arnold had been quietly dropped. ...........
Prosecutors quietly drop charges against white firefighter who threatened black couple with a gun
David Ferguson 07 Dec 2016 at 16:04 ET
Charges were abruptly dropped against a Savannah, Georgia, firefighter accused of threatening a black couple at gunpoint and telling them his badge entitled him to kill them with impunity.
UPDATE: Ex-firefighter who threatened to kill black couple indicted on 7 felony counts
The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that charges against Barry Arnold were inexplicably dropped in September after the government failed to prosecute. The couple who bore the brunt of Arnold’s drunken, racist meltdown want to know why.
In October of 2015, Marquist Curtis and his fiancée, Amber Phillips were eating dinner at a Savannah Applebee’s restaurant when they heard a drunken and agitated Arnold — who was voted 2014 Savannah Firefighter of the Year — use racist slurs against his server, a black woman.
Then, when he noted Curtis and Phillips, he began to direct his ire at them.
“He’s saying, ‘I got those black ass ribs just like those ni**ers,’” Curtis told the Beast. “He looked over at my fiancée and said ‘I can’t stand those ni**ers.’”
Curtis reportedly asked Arnold to “calm down,” according to police documents, but Arnold became belligerent and combative, called Curtis a “ni**er” and tackled him. The dispute spilled out into the restaurant’s parking lot where Arnold retrieved a handgun from his car and pointed it at Curtis and Phillips, saying that he would kill them.
“He’s walking over with his gun and badge, saying, ‘I’ve got the right to kill you ni**ers,’” .....
