Soldier says he was beaten, rifle taken

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By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A soldier home on leave said seven men attacked him and then took his assault rifle, according to WSB-TV.

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The news account didn’t name the soldier, who said he suspected his cousin set him up. Atlanta police said they know nothing about an attack on Saturday.

The soldier had been in Atlanta less than a day when when he and his cousin, identified simply as T.J., were sitting in his blue Chevrolet Impala at the Rolling Bends Apartments in northwest Atlanta, the soldier told WSB.

Seven men walked to the car, he said.

“They were coming up to the car," the soldier told the television station. "I noticed T.J. hit the unlock button. They came up to the side of the car. They opened the door and grabbed my rifle.”

The soldier said he was punched, kicked and hit in the head with a glass bottle when he tried to retrieve his gun.

“I tried to call out to my cousin T.J. but he didn’t do anything,” the soldier said in a WSB news report.

“A weapon like that being in a neighborhood like that is not a good combination,” the soldier said. “I still feel betrayed by my family because T.J., that’s my blood. Like, how are you going to value the streets more than your own cousin?”

The soldier was not in uniform at the time. It was not clear why he had his weapon with him.