Gwinnett Police Officer Resigns After Domestic Charges

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A Gwinnett County Police officer resigned Monday after being charged in a domestic dispute with his estranged wife and others over the weekend.

Police say Zachary Wilkerson, 35, of Snellville, brandished a firearm at a party, grabbed his wife by the throat and pushed her, stole her cellphone and uploaded an explicit video of her to Facebook.

He is charged with three counts of simple assault, theft by taking, battery and transmission of an explicit video of an adult.

"We are fortunate that this type of behavior was realized very early in his brief career ... ," Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Deon Washington said in a news release. "In this situation, Wilkerson represented everything that police do not stand for and we are fortunate that he is no longer an employee of this agency."

Washington said Wilkerson resigned Monday in lieu of termination. He was hired June 22, 2015, and started operating as an officer on the street on April 23, 2016.

At about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, police were alerted to a domestic dispute involving Wilkerson.

The complainant said that on Saturday evening, she'd begun receiving disturbing text messages from Wilkerson from her best friend's phone.

The messages were so alarming, she said, that she decided to call police to check on her friend's well-being.

The friend also claimed Wilkerson had been stalking his estranged wife and her boyfriend while he was on duty as a police officer. The wife forwarded numerous texts to her friend — some of them threatening to have the boyfriend's vehicle impounded.

Police say they also learned that Wilkerson had recently posted a sexually explicit video involving his estranged wife on Facebook.

Following the conversation with the friend, police made contact with Wilkerson's wife at a different location.

She told officers she'd been at a friend's house on Saturday when Wilkerson showed up.

She said that during the party, Wilkerson took her phone without permission and walked off with it. When asked to return the phone, she said, Wilkerson grabbed her by the throat and pushed her.

Shortly after that, witnesses say Wilkerson pulled out his personal firearm.

As several people tried to calm him down he reportedly shouted obscenities at them. He left the party and, a short time later, the sexually explicit video was posted to his wife's Facebook account.

After interviewing the wife, police met with Wilkerson and say they were able to locate and return his wife's phone.

He was placed under arrest and taken to Gwinnett County Detention Center, where he has since bonded out.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett County Police Department