Crime & Safety
Alpharetta Police: Suspect Found
No details are available, but reportedly a suspect wanted in connection with the aggravated assault of his wife has taken his own life.
UPDATE: AUG 2. Police have cancelled a lookout for Samuel Smith III, who apparently took his own life. No details are available at this time.
Alpharetta police are searching for a suspect they consider armed and dangerous after they responded to the scene this morning of an aggravated assault in progress.
On Aug. 1 at 7:35am, Alpharetta police were dispatched to the Alpharetta address, according to George Gordon, spokesman for the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety. Officers found the victim, who was visibly upset and shaking. She said she had just left her apartment to go to work. As she was leaving, a man she identified as her husband, wearing a mask, jumped from behind bushes and ordered her at gunpoint to get into her vehicle. He told her to get in the vehicle or be killed.
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The victim is the wife of the suspect, Samuel Smith III. They are separated.
After the victim got into the vehicle, the suspect began to beat her. Numerous witnesses called 911. He tried to flee the area with the passenger door open, striking another vehicle. After the impact with the other vehicle, the victim was able to quickly grab the handgun and throw it out of the vehicle. She then jumped from the passenger seat and ran to nearby apartments.
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The suspect immediately fled the area in a blue 2003 Honda Accord bearing GA tag #PAC2811.
SWAT officers and uniformed patrol officers conducted a number searches at possible locations looking for Samuel Smith. He has not been located.
The Alpharetta Department of Public Safety considers Smith to be armed and dangerous, Gordon said. The public is asked to be on the lookout for Samuel Smith and his vehicle. If observed, do not approach the suspect. Immediately contact your local law enforcement agency by calling 911.
Smith is a 48-year-old black male, 6 feet tall, 285 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Gordon said charges have been filed against Samuel Smith III for aggravated assault with a firearm, hijacking of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment and hit and run.
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