ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta judge is facing multiple charges after being arrested at a Buckhead nightclub early Thursday morning.
Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson is charged with felony willful obstruction of a police officer by using threats or violence and simple battery against a police officer, according to Fulton County Jail records.
Atlanta Police said that the arrest occurred after a 911 call to a business at 3179 Peachtree Road NE early Thursday morning, which is the address of Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge.
Warrants from the Fulton County Magistrate Court stated that Peterson allegedly "struck an officer with a closed fist." The court documents also revealed that the officer was investigating a dispute between two people at the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge. Warrants stated that Peterson was not involved in the initial altercation.
Late on Friday, police released a condensed version of body camera video of the arrest.
The video begins with police walking in the parking lot outside the lounge where there appears to be an ongoing confrontation. A security guard at the location grabs a woman, which Atlanta Police described as security separating the people who were involved in the altercation.
The officer then walks up to the security guard and the woman and tells the woman to "chill" several times. The woman appears to be yelling about a man who she was involved in an altercation with, saying, "He just touched me for no reason." As the officer and the security guard try to calm the woman down and remove her from the situation, that's when Peterson walks over to the officer, security guard and woman and begins yelling.
You can hear someone say "stop" several times. Peterson appears to be trying to use both of her arms to get the officer and security guard away from the woman. What happens next is unclear on video. The camera becomes grainy and shakes around, and a few seconds later, Peterson is on the ground with the officer placing her in handcuffs.
You can watch portions of the video below.
But Peterson's attorney, Marvin Arrington Jr, said the arrest and charges weren't justified because Peterson was trying to help the woman who was being attacked by a man. They held a news conference on Friday where they added new details about what happened.
"The judge did nothing more than try to help. The fiancé of the judge's friend and another person are all eyewitnesses that will confirm what both the young lady who was being assaulted said and what her friend said, that the judge had nothing to do and they let the young man who was assaulting the lady go" Arrington Jr. said.
11Alive spoke to the two women to whom he's referencing. One said she was the one being attacked, while the other was her friend who was trying to get her help.
"It was so sad. I'm being attacked, and there were so many men there. So many men and no one stepped up to help but a woman. I just got an X-ray done on my lower back. I landed on my elbows. He punched me in my face. I have a couple of scrapes on my toes, and my thumb is jammed," Alexandria Love said.
She said the argument started over a place in line for food just outside of Red Martini Club. Her friend Madison Shannon Kelly said they didn't understand why Judge Peterson was arrested.
"The focus is not the judge; it's the man that attacked my friend. It’s only because of the way she was swinging. She was trying to grab the guy, but he was so big and strong so her grasp was not connecting. In the process of her reaching back, that’s how the cop got hit. I know it's wrong to hit an officer, but I know it was an accident. She did not intentionally do that," Kelly said.
Arrington called for all charges to be dropped. Peterson did not speak at the news conference.
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