Clayton dad bounces infant to escape police

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Stockbridge man is in jail Thursday after throwing his baby to the ground last month while escaping police.

Monte S. McCollum, 30, was arrested by deputies with the Clayton Sheriff's office fugitive squad. McCollum was being sought by authorities for allegedly kidnapping the 4-month-old from the child's mother in March.

"When police encountered this suspect, he threw the child on the ground and took off running," Clayton Sheriff's office spokeswoman Sgt. Sonja Sanchez told the AJC.

That was on April 30. Deputies caught up with McCullum Wednesday.

The incident stemmed from an apparent March 6 dispute between McCullum and the mother of his son.

Sanchez said McCollum took his son from the baby's mother and refused to return him.

A warrant issued for his arrest included, at the time, kidnapping, family battery and robbery by sudden snatching.

But on April 30, when uniformed cops tracked McCollum to where he was staying, in the Magnolia Inn on Davison Parkway in Stockbridge, he literally tossed his child and ran away.

The police report said the infant was thrown "with such force he bounced on the ground and slid to a stop," Sanchez said.

The child's condition is unclear at this point.

In addition to the kidnapping and robbery charges, McCollum is being charged with family violence, theft by taking, obstruction, cruelty to children, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

He is being held at the Clayton County Jail on a $22,000 bond.