Street Criminal: Hosea Smith
A couple hours after the flashlight walk a resident flagged down Sgt. Cooper as he was patrolling the neighborhood to report a transvestite prostitute terrorizing her. She told Sgt. Cooper that as she was walking her dogs at 12:30am, she was threatened and stalked by this individual later identified as 21-year-old Hosea Smith. She went on to say that she had made it to the door of her building before Smith got to her again. A little while later Sgt. Cooper drove by on his motorcycle, and she alerted him to the situation.
Sgt. Cooper located the offending individual about a block away, and spoke to him about his presence in the neighborhood. Smith told Sgt. Cooper that he did not care what the neighborhood thought of his unlawful activities in the neighborhood and that he was here to stay. Sgt. Cooper then watched Smith head to where the victim lives, and intercepted him when he resumed harassing her. The victim made it clear that she was willing to testify in court, so Sgt. Cooper placed Smith under arrest for Disorderly Conduct #1 (§106-81: acting in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another where any person is placed in fear of their own safety).
The victim also told Sgt. Cooper that her home and car have been vandalized, and that Smith has harassed and assaulted her repeatedly in the past. In one instance she hurt her leg, and yet the police never responded, she said. At Sgt. Cooper’s recommendation we will make every effort to court watch this individual even though there is no organized Court Watch Program in Municipal Court as we have in Fulton Superior Court. We will also assist her in taking out a restraining order against Hosea Smith stalking the streets of our neighborhood – that would yield another tool to deal with this dedicated criminal.
Upon conviction under this city ordinance Smith would be liable to a six-month maximum jail term. Our research shows some bookings in Fulton County jail for state-level charges, including terroristic threats and drug offenses. One of these bookings took place fairly recently, so we will check with our community prosecutor for outstanding felony charges for court watch purposes. We depend upon not only the diligent work of the Atlanta Police Department and our patrol, but also upon the proactive actions of the courts to bring the criminal activity adversely affecting the community to a stop. An individual terrorizing someone in this manner should never be allowed on the streets of any community, and your neighbors at the MPSA take these kinds of cases very seriously…
Some mugshots courtesy of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Deptartment:
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Many thanks for our community sponsors! While the majority of our funding comes from residents and small businesses, a significant portion of our neighborhood patrol funds comes from the following sponsors:
