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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Sunday, December 18,2022 FORSYTHNEWS.COM
Alpharetta officer arrested in Forsyth
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
A police officer for the city of
Alpharetta was recently arrested in
Forsyth County.
Michael Rene Stewart, 58, was arrested
on Tuesday, Dec. 12, for simple assault:
family violence in connection with a
domestic dispute earlier in the month.
According to an incident report from
the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, depu
ties were called to Stewart’s south Forsyth
home on Saturday, Dec. 3 “in response to
a domestic dispute
between a husband and
wife.”
Per the report, the cou
ple had been arguing ear
lier in the day about
Stewart about the rela
tionship issues and the
victim “requested he
unfriend a female on
Facebook, in which he did.”
The argument reportedly re-escalated
later in the evening, when the victim
“found out he re-friended the female on
Facebook” and locked herself in a bed
room before Stewart broke the door.
“She stated Michael came home and
continued to argue and attempted to get in
the bedroom,” the report said. “She told
him no and to stay in the guest room. He
broke the door and made entry into the
room.”
The victim told police she “was in fear
because she did not know what he was
going to do.”
Stewart reportedly took a gun from the
nightstand in the bedroom, which the vic
tim and police were concerned he might
use on himself.
He was taken to a local hospital the
night of the incident.
James T. Drinkard, assistant city admin
istrator for the city of Alpharetta, said
Stewart had worked with the department
for more than 17 years and had been
placed on administrative leave.
“Per our policies and procedures, he was
placed on administrative leave while the
Alpharetta Department of Public Safety
and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office con
duct their respective on-going investiga
tions,” Drinkard said in a statement.
Stewart
New way to support police
Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman speaks Friday, Dec. 16, during an information session on a new tax credit
that can generate up to $3 million for law enforcement uses.
Sheriff details taxpayer credit to benefit law enforcement
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
Business, public safety and
elected officials discussed a
new program that could allow
individual and certain corpo
rate taxpayers to use their tax
bills to pay for law enforce
ment needs.
On Friday, Dec. 16, an
information session was held
at Giorgio’s Family Kitchen
to discuss a tax credit, which
has been called Refund the
Police, which was approved
as part of the Law
Enforcement Strategic
Support, or LESS, Crime Act.
The act was approved by
the state legislature earlier this
year and was pushed for by
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a
Forsyth County resident.
The program allows for a
dollar-for-dollar tax credit for
up to $5,000 for single filers,
up to $10,000 for married
couples and up to 75% of
state tax liability, up to $3
million, for qualified C corpo
rations, or corporations that
are separate taxpayers from
the owner.
Rather than donating direct
ly to a law enforcement agen
cy, taxpayers will give to a
qualified law enforcement
foundation, which can receive
up to $3 million. The cap for
all foundations in the state is
$75 million in total.
“Monies that we will col
lect will go to a nonprofit
foundation, Heroes of the
Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office, and that money gets
administered by them, and it
has to be used for specific
purposes, and that is law
enforcement equipment, it is
law enforcement incentives,”
said Forsyth County Sheriff
Ron Freeman.
The donations will be for
the 2023 tax year and will be
open to the community at the
start of the new year. After
that, taxpayers have 60 days
or until the end of the year,
whichever is shorter, to fulfill
the payment.
If that payment is not ful
filled in that timeframe, tax
payers must reapply.
State Sen. Greg Dolezal
recommended early donation
to ensure that Forsyth hit its
cap before the state limit is
reached.
“The limit for this is $3 mil
lion per agency, so there’s
hundreds of law enforcement
agencies around the state,”
Dolezal said. “So, $3 million
into $75 million, you do the
math. This can evaporate
quickly.”
Freeman said the funds
could only be spent on certain
uses and priorities for the
Kelly Whitmire Forsyth County News
sheriff’s office including
offering incentive pay for spe
cialized officers, paying for
training and certification, pay
ing for more advanced equip
ment for the office and for
school safety measures,
including a potential camera
system that would use artifi
cial intelligence to identify
weapons.
“So, if, God forbid, a kid or
somebody walks through the
school with a gun, that AI...
could recognize that as a
weapon and give us an early
warning that a gun has been
recognized on a campus,”
Freeman said.
Those funds would be able
to roll over year to year by the
foundation, which Freeman
said will be made up of 10
local businesspeople.
“The way this works, I
3 Forsyth
principals
to retire in
summer
By Sabrina Kerns
skerns@forsythnews.com
Forsyth County Schools
announced Thursday that
three principals are planning
to retire at the end of this
school year.
Dr. Lynne Castleberry at
Whitlow Elementary, Dr.
Gary Davison at Lambert
High, and Laura Wilson at
South Forsyth High all
announced they will be retir
ing next summer after many
years in education and
Forsyth County Schools.
Dr. Lynne Castleberry
Castleberry is a lifelong
Forsyth resident, starting in
Forsyth’s
schools as a
student at
Midway
Elementary
before gradu
ating from
Forsyth
County High,
now Forsyth
Central. It led her to start her
career in education as a teach
er right at home at Chestatee
Elementary in 1985.
She was then promoted to
assistant principal at Sawnee
Elementary and Primary in
1994 before she took on her
first principal job at
Cumming Elementary in
2001.
Castleberry was chosen to
open Whitlow Elementary in
2009 where she has worked
as principal ever since. Now,
she plans to retire on May 31,
ending a 38-year career of
serving Forsyth County’s stu
dents.
See Principals 12A
See Credit 12A
Castleberry
Man indicted on two counts after fight with Cumming Police officers
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
A suspect was recently
indicted on two counts of
obstruction of an officer
tied to an alleged fight with
Cumming Police officers.
In December, Kingsley
Chikaodi Akumadu Jr., 22,
of Forsyth County, was
indicted for allegedly
resisting arrest by two
Cumming Police officers
“by yelling fighting words
at law enforcement offi
cers, by kicking at said
[officers] and by physically
resisting arrest by fighting
said [officers] in broken
glass” on Monday, Dec. 5.
According to informa
tion from the Forsyth
County
Jail,
Akumadu
is being
held on no
bond with
two charg-
e s of
obstruc
tion of law
enforcement officers by
threats or violence, a pro
bation violation and a
superior court bench war
rant.
In an incident report
from the Cumming Police
Department, the respond
ing officer said police were
called to Little Cesar’s
Pizza on Atlanta Road in
reference to a theft of a
purse belonging to
Akumadu’s mother.
Per the report, after offi
cers eventually convinced
Akumadu to walk out of
the store, he “sat outside in
front of the store for sever
al minutes before attempt
ing to go back inside the
store.”
When the suspect report
edly refused to stop, offi
cers attempted to take him
down.
“During the struggle,
Akumadu and I fell into
the pile of glass in front of
the store, where Akumadu
got cut in several areas on
his arms, hands and back,
as well as on my leg,” the
responding officer wrote in
the report. “Akumadu tried
to get up numerous times
and we continued to fight
with him while on the
ground in order to keep
control.”
The responding officer
said after the fight medical
staff at Northside Hospital
Forsyth “assisted me in
removing glass from my
hands and leg.”
After the first scuffle,
Akumadu allegedly “tried
to go after” one of the offi
cers and was taken to the
ground again.
When they first arrived,
the officer reported that
Akumadu was walking
inside the store with no
shirt, which he allegedly
told police his mother had
ripped off, and “appeared
very angry.”
As Akumadu spoke with
police, his mother located
her purse outside of the
store with two credit cards
missing.
The responding officer
wrote he had offered to let
Akumadu change out of
wet clothes, but the two
began to argue when
Akumadu “began trying to
‘dry off’ a hand-rolled cig
arette by lighting it on fire
with a lighter.”
“When I told him he
could not dry off his ciga
rette, he told me not to tell
him what to do,” the offi
cer said in the report.
The officer reportedly
then told him to leave the
store without changing
“numerous times“ before
three officers put Akumadu
in handcuffs.
The suspect reportedly
went limp and “began act
ing like his sugar was low”
and said that he had just
taken medication.
His mother reportedly
brought him a soft drink
for his sugar and “he spit it
out,” according to the
report.
When searching his
pockets, officers found the
missing credit cards.
Akumadu then allegedly
began insulting and swear
ing at his mother and offi
cers before the physical
altercation.
He was taken to
Northside hospital follow
ing the altercation.
Akumadu
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