Man accused of damaging firetruck, threatening diners in downtown Atlanta
A man was arrested Sunday morning after police said he threatened diners with a knife at a downtown Atlanta restaurant and damaged a firetruck, putting it temporarily out of service.
Kenneth Morrell, 52, was charged with aggravated assault and damage to government property, Atlanta police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said. After he was detained, Morrell was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for minor cuts and scrapes. He will be booked into the Fulton County Jail upon his release from the hospital.
According to the initial police investigation, Morrell damaged property and used a knife to threaten customers at a diner in the 200 block of Peachtree Street. During the incident, a good Samaritan in the diner hit Morrell with a piece of lumber. That person left the restaurant before police arrived.
Atlanta firefighters were the first to respond to the scene, where they expected to treat Morrell. However, he was “very combative,” according to the incident report, and the firefighters waited for APD officers to help get Morrell under control.
While the firefighters waited for police, Morrell ran up to their fire engine “yelling and screaming,” Grant said. “He then started to bust out the windows to the fire engine with the handle of his knife.”
Police were eventually able to take Morrell into custody and then to Grady Detention for treatment.
The firetruck had its front windows smashed and cracked. It had to be removed from service for the rest of its shift, according to an Atlanta Professional Firefighters Facebook post.
The attack was an isolated incident and unrelated to protests or acts of vandalism that took place over the weekend downtown, police said.
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