Police Arrest Man Who Fired Gun During Attempted Carjacking

FANNIN COUNTY, GA — Cherokee Sheriff's Office deputies apprehended an Atlanta wanted on charges related to an attempted carjacking in Woodstock. Kenneth Otis Bethea, 29, was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday, said sheriff's office spokesperson Sgt. Marianne Kelley.

Bethea was arrested June 5 following a domestic dispute reported in Fannin County. After that incident, the Fannin County Sheriff's Office requested the assistance of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office in locating Bethea. Sgt. Kelley said deputies located Bethea, and transported the suspect back to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.

Woodstock police say the Blue Ridge resident was involved in an incident around 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 when he pointed a handgun at the occupants of a vehicle at The Heights at Towne Lake Apartments. According to the agency, Bethea tried to enter the vehicle before the motorist drove away.

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"Bethea fired a handgun into the air and smashed out the front passenger window with his handgun," Woodstock police spokesperson Brittany Page said.

Woodstock police investigators secured warrants for Bethea's arrest and issued a be-on-the-lookout alert to the public and area law enforcement agencies. Betha is charged with aggravated assault by strangulation, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple battery, misdemeanor theft by taking, unlawful possession of false identification, cruelty to children in the third degree, false imprisonment, obstructing 9-1-1 call, kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, carrying a weapon without a license, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, criminal trespassing, criminal damage to property in the second degree and obstruction of an officer.

Bethea remains at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center without bond.

Photo: Kenneth Otis Bethea. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office