Published Saturday, August 01, 2009
Suspect charged with striking man with motor vehicle
The Newnan Times-Herald
A 65-year-old man was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle after striking a man with his truck for no apparent reason, say authorities.
Morgan Rowell Couch, 65, of 5 East Magnolia Drive in East Newnan, was arrested without incident at his residence, according to Inv. James Long of the Coweta County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators say that Couch was going to visit a friend at 100 East Wood Street at approximately 1 p.m. His friend's son -- Richard Gene Brown Jr. -- was in the driveway of the residence when Couch arrived.
Long said that eyewitnesses saw Couch pull into the driveway and "bump" into Brown's knees. Brown thought Couch was just "playing around" until Couch reportedly accelerated, knocking Brown to the ground onto his back, according to Long. Brown grabbed Couch's bumper and was dragged up the driveway approximately three to four feet before Couch reversed.
Witnesses told police that Couch exited his truck and asked Brown, "You want some more?" He then returned to the truck and left the scene.
Couch was arrested without further incident after "evidence obtained from [Couch's] vehicle was consistent with witness statements," according to Long.
Long concluded from his investigation that there was "no apparent motive" in the assault.
The following unrelated incidents were reported by the Coweta County Sheriff's Office:
* Roderic Oren Conyne, 53, of 135 Riverside Court in Sharpsburg, was arrested July 26 and charged with indecent exposure.
At approximately 2:45 p.m., neighbors reported seeing Conyne -- whom they knew as "Mr. Rod" -- outside his residence watering his plants while completely naked. Conyne allegedly made no attempt to hide himself after he got the attention of two 10-year-old boys playing nearby, according to the police incident report.
The boys reportedly told an adult, who verified the story then called 911.
Sheriff's deputies knocked on Conyne's door, but he wouldn't answer, according to the report. The officers noted freshly-watered plants around the residence. After 3-5 minutes of ringing the doorbell "continuously," "Rod" came to the front door completely naked. According to the incident report, he was covered in "some type of bug spray or citronella oil" from head to toe.
"When we asked him about being outside naked and exposing himself, he stated he was going to bed and attempted to shut the door," the deputies reported. Conyne refused to give a reason as to why he was outside naked.
The neighbors told police that in a separate incident they'd discovered Conyne "strangely hiding in the bushes" followed by a confrontation with a neighbor. A minor also told police that Conyne had asked the child to accompany him on a nearby wooded trail and ride bikes with him.
* Donovan Daldandrekia Williams, 23, of LaGrange, was arrested July 24 and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Williams was a passenger in vehicle authorities stopped for speeding on Interstate 85 South at mile marker 38, according to Lt. Mark Fenninger.
Responding officers noticed a bag hanging from Williams' pocket. The bag contained four ounces of marijuana. The suspect also had $1,777 in cash on his person.
Williams claimed possession of the drugs and money.
