While Georgia lawmakers were making laws inside the state Capitol last week, a man was allegedly breaking them outside.
The suspect allegedly displayed a handgun to a security officer at a pedestrian crosswalk on Thursday morning, drove off the wrong way on a one-way street and was later arrested after a confrontation with an FBI special agent, according to a police report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Charles Wyatt Brite, a 22-year-old from Atlanta, is charged with five crimes including obstruction, assault and reckless driving.
The trouble started when an officer told Brite to stop his Subaru Outback for pedestrians on Capitol Square, between the Capitol building and the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, according to the police report.
When the officer walked to the car window, Brite allegedly showed a handgun and loaded a round into its chamber. Then he drove off and made a wrong turn onto Capitol Place.
A few minutes later, an FBI special agent said he saw Brite throw a handgun out of his vehicle onto Washington Street, then get out of his SUV and walk toward the gun.
Brite allegedly resisted arrest before being taken to the Fulton County Jail. The police report said officers observed shell casings inside the vehicle and bullet holes in the front passenger door.
A resolution introduced in the Georgia Senate last year would bar vehicle traffic from Capitol Square where the incident occurred.
The proposal, Senate Resolution 537, says leaving the street open "presents a dangerous opportunity for an act of terrorism."
