For roughly an hour this past weekend, a man threatened police officers, tied the doors to a Georgia courthouse shut, climbed a parking deck attendant’s booth and dropped his pants, Athens-Clarke County police said.
It’s not exactly clear what led to Demetrious Faust’s erratic behavior in the hours leading to his Sunday morning arrest.
Faust, at one point, told police he was upset a man stole his tools.
An officer attempted to reason with him, but police said Faust, 27, repeatedly ignored commands and exposed himself to authorities. He was charged with making terroristic threats and obstruction (both felonies) as well as public indecency, disorderly conduct and interference with government property.
The bizarre series of events began about 10:20 a.m. at the Multimodal Transit Center on Broad Street.
Witnesses told police Faust was “acting strangely,” ran into a bathroom and threatened to kill himself, according to a police report. Faust was later seen haphazardly wrapping tape around his arm.
“He became increasingly tumultuous as he shouted, cursed, ran around inside the facility (and) screamed at staff,” Officer Daniel Schmidt said in his report. “He violently threw his phone at some point.”
When witnesses said they were calling the police, Faust allegedly yelled obscenities and said he’ll “kick their (expletive),” referring to the police.
Faust ran before police arrived, but he was found at the Clarke County Courthouse, where police said he tied the doors shut, preventing a judge from leaving the building. At one point, Faust shouted and banged on the windows, according to the report. The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office took over that investigation.
Schmidt eventually caught up to Faust as he was walking away from the courthouse to the federal building. When Faust saw the marked police car, he turned away and made an obscene gesture, according to the report. Police said Faust then turned to Schmidt and began yelling.
“I drew my Taser and gave verbal commands,” Schmidt wrote in his report. “He was briefly compliant, and I had him walk with me out of the roadway and asked him to sit on the curb of the sidewalk.”
But Faust didn’t listen.
Police said he jumped on top of a parking deck attendant’s booth, where he yelled obscenities, exposed his genitals and threatened police.
The Athens-Clarke County Fire Department eventually brought a ladder to bring Faust down as authorities talked him off the booth and took him into custody.
After being cleared by a doctor, he was taken to the Clarke County jail.
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