A Kennesaw City Councilman faces two charges, including a felony, following a drunken fight at his home earlier this year, authorities said.
Chris Henderson, who represents Post 4 on the City Council, was arrested Jan. 31 during a domestic incident involving his wife and several others after a night of drinking and karaoke, police records show.
Officers responded to Henderson’s house on Kirkwood Run about 3 a.m. and watched as the “highly intoxicated” councilman hurled objects at his wife from the second level of their home, according to an incident report.
“As I entered the residence, I saw a broken door in the middle of the living room and broken picture frames on the floor,” one officer wrote. “There was dirt from a plant pot around where the door was laying on the floor and two candlesticks near a far window which looked over the backyard.”
Officers also discovered another man “bleeding profusely” from his face. Witnesses said the man got into a fight with Henderson while attempting to intervene in an argument the councilman was having with his wife.
Police separated the group, but were told Henderson had access to a pistol and an AR-15 inside his room. After being asked repeatedly to come out with his hands up, Henderson emerged from the bedroom with a knife in his right hand, police said. Officers instructed him to drop the knife, which he did, before going downstairs and speaking with police.
“... it was clear that he was under the influence of alcoholic beverages,” the officer wrote. “His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his speech was slurred, he stumbled as he walked the short distance from the stairs to the couch, and he seemed to have a difficult time speaking in a coherent manner.”
The man said Henderson attacked him, leaving him with a gash in the middle of his forehead, a bloody nose and a cut on his lower lip. The door that Henderson later threw at his wife was broken during the scuffle, according to police. The injured man declined medical attention at the scene and reportedly told officers he did not wish to press charges.
Based on the witness statements, the extensive damage and the fact that at least one officer observed Henderson throwing objects from the second floor, police arrested the councilman on charges of simple assault and criminal damage to property, which is a felony. He was released from the Cobb County Jail later that morning after posting a $4,600 bond, records show.
Henderson, who works for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, was elected to the City Council in late 2017 after winning more than 51% of the vote in a three-man race. His term is set to expire later this year. Henderson did not return a call or a text message requesting comment Friday afternoon, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he plans to seek re-election.
“The City of Kennesaw is aware of the arrest and charges brought against Councilmember Henderson,” city spokeswoman Rebecca Graham said in an emailed statement. “Under both Georgia law and the Kennesaw Charter, no action can be taken at this stage unless the councilmember is formally indicted.”
Henderson has attended every City Council meeting since his arrest in late January, Kennesaw’s city clerk confirmed.
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