A Dunwoody police officer has been placed on administrative leave after he was accused of a pattern of domestic abuse and arrested on a battery charge in Forsyth County.
Mark Leslie Stevens, 49, the department’s community outreach officer, will remain on leave while an internal investigation is conducted, Dunwoody police spokesman Sgt. Michael Cheek confirmed.
Stevens, who lives in Cumming, was arrested on one count of battery/family violence, as first reported by Rough Draft Atlanta. He was taken into custody Aug. 18, one day after the victim reported the alleged incident to deputies at the Forsyth sheriff’s office, according to his arrest warrant.
The incident report said the victim, a 40-year-old woman, appeared at the courthouse in the early evening of Aug. 17 and asked to report a crime. The reporting deputy said the woman appeared to be “very upset and crying.” She asked to speak to a female deputy, but none were available.
The victim filled out a statement form describing the alleged incident, which took place the previous night, the report said. The woman said Stevens had been drinking and the two got into an argument around 11:30 p.m. The victim tried to disengage and went into another room, and Stevens followed about 30 minutes later, according to the report. The victim wrote that she tried to move past the argument, but Stevens assaulted her.
Details of the alleged battery were redacted from the incident report, but the victim took photos of her injuries. Those descriptions were also redacted.
The victim told deputies that similar incidents had happened in the past. The report said she also had photos and videos of previous incidents involving Stevens, and the victim was instructed to keep them to share with an investigator.
The woman said she planned to stay with a friend after leaving the station that evening, according to the report. Stevens was taken into custody less than 24 hours later.
Stevens has worked in law enforcement since 2001 and joined the Dunwoody Police Department in March 2009, according to records kept by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. He has no disciplinary history over the course of his career.
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