He was the only man working as a Clayton County dispatcher early Monday, and Deonte Smith was there when a woman needed him most.
Around 4 a.m., a woman called 911 to report that she had been kidnapped in Hapeville and brought to a closed business on Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro, according to Clayton County police. Not only did Robert Timothy Giles tell the woman he was going to sexually assault her, but he ordered her to call her boyfriend to listen to the attack, Officer Shelton Brown said.
Instead, the woman called 911. And Smith, a senior 911 operator, answered the call.
Smith told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday he was just doing his job, but the timing of the call was crucial.
“Honestly I’d say divine intervention,” Smith said. “I was the only guy on the floor that night. The other guy we had had just left not too long before the call came in.”
Smith said the victim deserves credit for her quick thinking while being assaulted. While on the phone with the woman, Smith tried to talk Giles out of the assault while he dispatched police. Officers arrived at the Starship Novelties and Gifts store and arrested Giles in the act, police said.
Giles, 27, of Snellville was charged with rape, false imprisonment and obstruction. He was denied bond at a court appearance Tuesday and was being held at the Clayton County jail.
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