Atlanta Police Officer Let Fugitive Escape, Department Says

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Credit: Fulton County Sheriff’s Office

An Atlanta police officer is on the other side of the jail bars after he allegedly allowed a wanted man to escape from a surrounded house last month.

Officer Tommy Williams has been arrested and charged with hindering the apprehension of a criminal, violation of oath by public officer, and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, WSB-TV reports. He has been suspended without pay, an Atlanta police spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon.

According to the arrest report, Williams was part of a group of officers sent to the back of a home on James P. Brawley Drive on May 14 to help a fugitive unit arrest wanted man Jabri Mathis. An officer at the side of the house saw a shadow fall over a fence post near the back of the house and reported the running man to his colleagues. Williams was at the back of the house and told fellow officers that nobody had come from the back of the home.

Police found and arrested Mathis on Griffin Street, southeast of the staked out home, and he was returned to the original scene. As officers were speculating as to how Mathis got out of the house unseen, Mathis told them that Williams had let him go, and added that Williams “was like an uncle to him,” the report says.

An area resident later told investigators that an Atlanta police officer had regularly visited the home in question, and described a vehicle the officer used. Investigators later discovered a traffic vest inside the vehicle, according to the report; On May 27, Williams’ vehicle was reportedly spotted outside Mathis’ girlfriend’s house.

The report says that Williams would have known for at least a month that Mathis was wanted, but never disclosed to his superiors that he knew Mathis.