Two private security guards were arrested Tuesday after police accused them of assaulting a man at a South Fulton apartment complex last week.
Marques Sawyer and Lucas Brown, who are employed by the Sirko and Associates security firm based in Atlanta, were initially cited for misdemeanor simple battery after the incident Friday evening at the Hickory Park Apartments on Delano Road. South Fulton police announced upgraded felony charges against the two men after a further investigation found they “unlawfully assaulted the victim," the department said in a statement.
Malik Johnson, 24, was sprayed with Mace and punched in the face while he was attempting to leave the apartment complex, his attorney Frank Ilardi told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ilardi is representing Johnson in a forthcoming civil suit against the security company and the two guards.
“They took the law, which they are not there to enforce, into their own hands,” he said. “If they thought Malik posed some kind of danger, they shouldn’t be chasing him. They should be calling the police.”
It was Johnson’s second confrontation with the men that day, his attorney said. Johnson was stopped by the guards on his way to visit a friend at the complex and asked to show his ID. He used a ridesharing service to get there, Ilardi said, and he didn’t have his driver’s license on him.
Hickory Park has long been a hotbed of crime. Since 2011, shootings at that complex have left at least four people dead and eight others wounded. Jonathan Sirko, the president of the security company hired to protect the complex, said the guards' primary duty is access control.
Johnson was denied entry, but he later returned unnoticed and visited his friend, his attorney said. He was spotted by the guards on his way out.
In a police report obtained by the AJC, Brown, 33, and Sawyer, 32, told a South Fulton officer they detained Johnson because he would not tell them the number of the apartment he was visiting. Sawyer said “he observed Mr. Johnson reaching for a firearm inside his vehicle," according to the report.
They told the officer they followed Johnson out of the complex and across the road “to keep him from standing in the middle of the street.”
It was at that point Johnson’s rideshare driver started recording the interaction on her cellphone. Johnson is seen in the video backing away from the two men with his hands in the air. He tells the guards to call the police and asserts that he’s done nothing wrong.
The men repeatedly order Johnson to the ground before Brown grabs him from behind, the video shows. Sawyer then pulls back and appears to punch Johnson, his fist landing on the back of Johnson’s head as the man quickly turns his face away.
Johnson seemed to know what was coming.
“Hey, record this! Record!” he yelled at his rideshare driver before the punch knocked him to the ground.
(Editor’s note: Video below includes graphic content and language)
Credit: Contributed
At that point in the video, a third unidentified guard arrives carrying what appears to be an assault-style rifle. He stands to the side as the first two guards restrain Johnson.
“I ain’t raise my hands at nobody," Johnson tells the men as they sit him up and put him in handcuffs. “My hands was in the air. I do not have a weapon. I haven’t done nothing. He just punched me. My hands was in the air."
Sawyer and Brown did not request medical help for Johnson, they told a South Fulton officer in the report. The officer called a Grady Memorial Hospital medic to check out Johnson’s injuries.
The officer searched and could not find any weapons on Johnson or in his driver’s car, according to the report. He was released.
Initially, Brown and Sawyer were cited for simple battery and instructed to appear in court.
Ilardi said the officer reported the incident to a detective, who within a few days called all three men back in for questioning. On Wednesday, the police department announced they had arrested Brown and Sawyer.
Both men were charged with false imprisonment, making false statements and possessing a weapon during the commission of a felony. Sawyer, the guard seen on video punching Johnson, was charged with aggravated assault.
They were released from the Fulton County Jail on Thursday after posting bond — $13,000 for Brown and $17,000 for Sawyer. Both have been suspended without pay while an independent investigation is underway, according to Sirko.
Ilardi said he is grateful the men are facing charges and that his client is alive to have his day in court. Johnson showed restraint because he believed he was in danger of being shot, Ilardi said.
“These officers ... shouldn’t be engaging people who are not committing any crimes," he said. “When you do that to someone, especially when their hands are up and they are not showing any threat, there’s going to be a significant consequence. Maybe that helps sends a message to private and government law enforcement that they need to change their tactics.”
About the Author
