Man faces simple assault charges after barricade situation

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Man faces simple assault charges after barricade situation

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Tuesday, January 31. 2012

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A Barrow County SWAT team was called out Jan. 30 in reference to a man who had barricaded himself at a Kings Court residence after reportedly forcing his roommates out and discharging a firearm.

But while authorities were en route to the situation, the man fled with his estranged wife, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Tuesday.

The man now faces three counts of simple assault charges. John Montgomery Barr, of 717 Kings Court, Bethlehem, is being held in the Barrow County Detention Center awaiting his court appearance.

Smith said Barr’s victims alerted authorities to the situation after he fired one shot into the garage. He was “extremely intoxicated, very angry and irate,” said Smith.

Online jail docket information indicates Barr was being held since Jan. 18 in Gwinnett County on $1,300 bond for a theft by taking charge.

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#1 Jack Legg on 01/31/12 at 08:57 AM

didnt take him long after he got out did it. why do these pany-waisted judges keep turning criminals back onto society.Do your job judge you are a failure and so is the entire judcial branch.I can assure you that the common man just wants to be left alone from these kinds of phsyco scum bags.

#1.1 carla on 01/31/12 at 07:09 PM

just wanted to set a few things stright about my boyfriend john barr. after reading this maybe you will understand why he snapped last night. first thing first, he was arrested in gwinnett on jan 18th but bonding out by me and his ex wife the same day, second he did not flea his home with his ex wife, she did how ever pick him to take him back to talk to the police, also he did not barricade himself in his home he was not in the home when the police were called.. john owns his home and out of the goodness of his heart he let 2 homeless men come to stay with him because they had no where else to go, shortly after they moved they begin bringing cocaine,pot, pills and everything else into the home and also selling the drugs which includes a teenager across the street, the stopped paying rent, john was robbed 3 times in 9 months because of people one room mate was bringing to the home.. we have told barrow county several times that these so called room mates are dealing and selling drugs and john wants them out, these room mates have even threatened to assault john.. the cops were called to the resident after Christmas to try to have these guys arrested but because of barrow county laws the cops could do nothing even though we told them about the drugs and that john had not stayed at that home for over 2 months because of the drugs and threats..john was not drunk last night i was with him until he was arrested. yes he is anger, irate and mad because he let these homeless men move in with him, take over his house, turn his house into a drug dealing home and nothing can be done about it.. home owners beware, do not let people stay at your home because they may never have to leave unless you have lots of money to go to court.. i hope all of you readers understand the situation which was fabricated by either the roommates, journalist, law enforcement or all of the above.. john is the kindest, sweetest man who will give the shirt off his back and even his home to some one who needs it, please put yourself in his shoes and think what would you do in this case..
thank you

#2 Anonymous on 01/31/12 at 03:32 PM

thankyou barrow journal for shutting down that coversation about the brothers being arrested.

#2.1 Are you Kidding on 01/31/12 at 04:19 PM

Yep, Thanks Journal. The Grammer police are out in force today. They bash the real cops cuz they couldn't handle the REAL job so they resort to policing the spelling and grammer. What a joke. No guts. I am ashamed to even say I live in this county with some of the low life bloggers that post in here. You may as well keep deleting my comments. As long as you let these uneducated. ungratefull bloggers post in here, I too will be responding. EVERYTIME one has some trash come from their mouths about Law Enforcement.Keep your finger on the delete button.

#2.1.1 Anonymous on 01/31/12 at 06:47 PM

there you go again showing what a damnable fool that you are, uneducated hillbilly as well. there is no stinking way that your dumbass works for any kind of law enforcement. please just shut up and stop posting or at least stay on topic you idiot.

#2.1.1.1 Uneducated????? on 01/31/12 at 09:41 PM

You say HE is uneducated, Good Lord, Try capitalizing your words when you begin a sentence. I tend to agree that some of the comments made too, and about him and his wife are out of line. Talk about my wife and I too will post some nasty stuff. Grow up will ya.

#3 james on 01/31/12 at 05:20 PM

just wondering how many times jack has made bond using the same lam excused

#4 whoa on 01/31/12 at 06:05 PM

holy smokes wen this dude gets out he shud go to holly wood because he could easily be cast as the bad guys henchman in any movie...wut gets me is he had roomates...If he answered my add I wud have to put him in the hek no pile even if he had a deposit ha...

#4.1 carla on 01/31/12 at 07:13 PM

lol i promise you this is a BAD photo.. this was his mug shot from barrow county on jan 18th.. he looks tough but he is a teddy bear, he just lost it last night.. when he fired the gun no one was home i promise...

#4.1.1 carla on 01/31/12 at 07:37 PM

mug shot from gwinnett county on jan 18th

#4.1.2 whoa on 01/31/12 at 07:58 PM

yeah sorry carla this guy has someone out there that cares...I wouldnt look good in a mug shot either and have got mad myself...Hes in a backwards system now and has enuf problems...Barrow county not a good place too be in trouble

#5 Jack Meoff on 01/31/12 at 07:54 PM

Simple assualt? Assualt on his garage? If there was no one home other than him then who did he assualt? Barrow County are some F-UP Deputies.

#5.1 carla on 01/31/12 at 08:00 PM

one of the room mates CLAIM to know Judd smith very well.. I have no idea if this is true or not but I do know that the district attorney sympathies with john and can understand his situation.. also, these rooms have tried several time to try and get john arrested thinking that if the home owner is arrested then they can stay in his home as long as they want..
this article portrays him as a monster when all he wants is his house back..
thank you jack

#6 simple solution on 01/31/12 at 08:52 PM

dude shud have just changed his locks and if your story is true then when they forced their way in it would be breaking and entering...Im sorry carla but something doesnt add up...You sure he wasnt taking drugs...Why else wud you let low lifes stay with you...No one is that nice

#6.1 micheal on 01/31/12 at 09:09 PM

im carla's son he didnt know they did drugs when he let them move in. they just over ran his house and barrow county didnt do any thing about it. they just turned there heads the other way!

#6.2 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:16 PM

call any court or attorney and ask them if you let some one stay with what rights do you have to kick them out with out having alot of money to go thru the courts, its insane..the cops were aware of the drugs but they said they could not do anything unless they had seen some thing themselves or had probable cause to get a warrant to search the house, john even offered them the key to search the house in Dec but because of our so called laws law enforcement said they could not do anything even though there were witness to drugs coming in and out of the house and being sold.

#6.3 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:22 PM

technically SWAT did not break and enter, the rooms mates told 911 that john pulled a gun on them and was barricaded in the house which was a lie, SWAT was there for over an hour before they realized he was not there, he was at my house. He left way before the room mates called 911.. the room mates believe if they get rid of john then john cant do anything legally about them living there.and behind bars he can't, he has a hearing tomorrow and hopefully he will be released, he has even talked about letting his home go into fore closer and the banks deal with the room mates, his hands are tied.. home owners beware it can happen to you too

#6.4 CS on 02/01/12 at 06:15 AM

He can change the locks all day long, but in Georgia, once you have established residency you have a right to gain access to the house. They can kick in the door whenever you change the locks, and you can do nothing about it.

What needs to be done is for him to go to the Court House and file a Writ of Eviction. Once filed, it will be served to the evictees by the Deputies. Once served, they will have 30 days to leave the residence. On the 31st day, the property owner has the right to remove the evictees property and change the locks. The evictees will no longer have a right to the residence at that point.

#7 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:10 PM

he IS very nice and a good man.. if he knew you and you needed anything he would be the first in line to help you out, he doesn't even have to know you in order to help you. and no he was not on drugs he did not know they did drugs when they moved in, he met thru a place that they all worked at and the guys were saying they needed a place to stay so john let them move in, the cops told him he could not change the locks or he would be arrested..and he even wanted to turn the electricity off but there again the cops told him he couldn't do that either..

#8 Hindsite on 01/31/12 at 09:19 PM

If he gets out I suggest cutting off all utilities, heat,water,etc...then report to code enforcement that its not sanitary to live there...I would do that before letting them "takeover"...And im sorry but I find it hard to believe that if he owned the property and they didnt have a signed lease he was not able to have them removed...

#8.1 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:24 PM

ask barrow county, they told us that he could not turn off the electricity. we were shocked to find out these laws as well, I promise I am not making it up, look the law up online or even talk to a county lawyer as we did, nancy floyd.. its crazy

#8.1.1 hindsight on 01/31/12 at 10:04 PM

I will look into it carla and if that is true then something really should be done...But answer one more thing...If I dont pay my bills the power comp. wud come shut me down wether or not I wanted them too..as well the other utilities...I really dont wont to believe you because if this is true its scary

#8.1.1.1 micheal on 01/31/12 at 10:23 PM

the thing is they wernt paying rent they where just paying the water and electiric bill so they could live there so if john didnt pay they paid it. because they had his information. he couldent have it cut off. or he would get in trouble.

#9 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:26 PM

and no he did not have a signed lease but in barrow it does not matter, a verbal contract is still a contract.. thats what barrow county law enforcement and the barrow county courts told us back in Dec..

#10 carla on 01/31/12 at 09:35 PM

he just wants his home back and the drug dealers gone

#10.1 Anonymous on 01/31/12 at 10:58 PM

Simple solution Carla...simply hang a 3 day letter giving them 3 days to cure all the lease or verbal lease agreements such as rent, utilities, cleaning, damages, etc..then start the eviction process thru the Magistrate courts. Cost 96 bucks. Law enforcement will serve them, they have 10 days to answer and a hearing will be set. Either way, they will be out.

#11 carla on 01/31/12 at 10:21 PM

I know it's very scary, In Dec john told the cops that he would shut the power off and they said could not do that because it was in humane, how ever if he lets the bill get behind and it gets turned off that's different BUT john did stop paying the water and electric bill and the guys got the mail and got the account numbers and paid the bills them selves.. john has been living with me since Nov of last year and this situation is frustrating and very scary.. thanks for your interest in this

#11.1 OMG on 01/31/12 at 10:31 PM

Whats scary is yall making Barrow County look so good with your spelling, punctuation and grammer. How can anyone believe anything your saying when you can't even spell. "how ever", "wernt" coulden't "wud". My lord!!! you have got to be joking.....really....your joking right?

#11.1.1 micheal on 01/31/12 at 10:35 PM

im sorry thats how we talk. but you just used yall. what about that!

#11.1.2 hindsight on 01/31/12 at 10:45 PM

Im typing quickly you arrogant ass...No im not taking the time to do it completely perfect but the people who needed to understand it did so go sit up on your mountain and look down...Shove a broom handle up your a@# while your up there...

#11.1.3 hindsight on 02/01/12 at 02:17 PM

you got nothing to say genius?

#12 carla on 01/31/12 at 10:32 PM

nope not joking

#13 hindsight on 01/31/12 at 10:50 PM

Also OMG its grammar not Grammer you ignorant SOB...Are you smart enufffff two no wut that es short fore?

#14 Fortitude on 01/31/12 at 11:19 PM

Dont worry, Brad Smith will toss this case out, this man has not sold drugs or killed anyone, so probation is off the table

#15 hindsight on 01/31/12 at 11:28 PM

Seems to me that someone should be held accountable if what this lady and young man are saying is true..???Why was no help given when it had been asked for???Carla I hope that YALL can prove the times he reached out for help before this was let to get to this point...Did you or he document any of these efforts...Sounds like someone was turning a blind eye...Maybe the swat team should come and disturb that persons life

#15.1 Anonymous on 01/31/12 at 11:51 PM

Welcome to Barrow County dealing with Jud and his boys. And some of you idiots want to reelect him.

#16 Anonymous on 02/01/12 at 12:10 AM

John Barr must not be a card carrying Moose Lodge drunk. If he was, then he would have Mooseamatic Immunity from the sheriff department.

#17 CS on 02/01/12 at 06:33 AM

Sorry, but something doesn't add up here.

First, if what "Carla" says is true, then he should not have been arrested since he was supposedly with her when this shot was fired (or she should have been arrest as Party to a Crime).

Second, you have to consider where the shot was fired, what the trajectory of the round was and what was down range of that. Unless you have concrete or brick walls, you fire a round in your house, it's going through you walls and into your neighbor's house. You may not be aiming at them, but you are being neglegent and unintentionally assualting them. If he wasn't firing in the presence of someone during the course of an argument, at worst he'd be charged with Reckless Endangerment. If someone was in the room and had reasonable fear of receiving harm, then you have your Assault charge.

Lastly, you need to do your research on what it takes under Georgia Law for residency. Basically, once you have either, a) received mail at the address, b)changed the address on your license, c) have a written contractual agreement, you've established resicency. The only ways to remove someone from your house after one of these criteria have been met, a) the term of the contract is complete, or b) you file in the Court for a Writ of Eviction, which takes 30 days once it's served.

As residents, they have the same rights you have under the law. As a landlord or a roommate, you cannot give Law Enforcement consent to search a tennant's or another roommate's quarters. The only areas you can give consent is common areas and your own quarters. Thanks to the Niel Street Incident, the courts are very strict on Law Enforcement when it comes to obtaining warrants on suspected drug houses.

#17.1 Anon on 02/01/12 at 06:51 AM

Writ of Eviction are also known as Writ of Restitution.

#18 J on 02/01/12 at 06:41 AM

So, what happens if you do not pay the utility bills? Can they hold it against you for not being able to pay your bills?
Seems to me if you serve them with an eviction notice, it should not take 30 days if there is no written agreement. I think I would consult an attorney and see, some don't charge for asking a question. If they are working I would file a smalls claims suit (costs very little). Turn the tables on them.
Call the police everytime it looked as though a "let's make a dope deal" was happening, someone may take the hint by then. Not sure why the neighbors aren't calling, extra traffic and undesirables in the area cannot be good.
If he is not careful he may be held responsible for the acts of the roomates, there are some states that punish the homeowner for what the roomates (renters) are doing.

#19 hippie?LOL on 02/01/12 at 07:15 AM

OMG, it is a DISPOSSESSORY that he must file. The BCSO serves it, then they have SEVEN days to answer it, If they do not file an answer, then on the 8th day you must go back to the Magistrate court and ask for a WRIT OF POSSESSION, then BCSO serves that. Meanwhile after he has his writ he must call the BCSO to set up an appointment for them to go out and be there during the eviction. HE must remove their belongings, the BCSO only is there to keep the peace.....................

I swear the IQ's of some people are _________

#19.1 Anonymous on 02/01/12 at 07:30 AM

First of all John is not a nice guy, I know because he is my neighbor. Also, if he let these homeless guys live with him out of the goodness of his heart then why is he charging them rent, doesn't make sense. Neighbors have constantly called the BCSO on him for riding an ATV up and down the road with no respect for his neigbors. After several warnings he has stopped. He has been drunk or drinking everytime I have seen him and if he is not man enough to remove to homeless drug dealers from his home by force, then he deserves what he gets. Now that I know what is going on in our neighborhood in that house, I will take the necessary steps to have this situation resolved. My comments to John if he were standing here are grow up, stop drinking because it obviously is ruining your life, and be a man for once respecting those around you. Otherwise, get use to jail cooking, because that's where you are going to spend much of your time.

#19.1.1 Please Get Real on 02/01/12 at 07:47 AM

Let's look at the facts about this nice fellow. In and out of Jail this month (but not his fault). Shot a gun in his garage (but that's normal) heck I do that all the time. Thinks neighborhood road is ATV track (understandable). A drunk (Normal right). Made a racetrack around is house so all the mud and dirt can wash down the roads for the neighbors (very cool). Has threatened neigbors but when approached backs down like a little girl (normal). Let's drug dealers move in his home (everybody does that). Too stupid because he is a drunk to move them out (normal). And has a girlfriend who believes he is a great guy and a teddy bear (I can believe that actually). Did I say he shot a gun in his house (WHAT!!!) You decide and I'm sure there is more to build the case of what a great guy and citizen of Barrow County this man is....

#19.1.1.1 matthew on 02/01/12 at 08:34 AM

oh God. I don't even known where to begin in commenting to this. I feel so sorry for some of you.

#19.1.1.2 micheal on 02/01/12 at 02:11 PM

so its illegal to have a forwheeler track in your own back yard these days. get real. and this sounds like peter from the neihborhood. and that was not john that was me rideing the atv on the road and the track in the back yard. the reason i made a track in the back yard is because people called the cops for riddeing on the road. thats why there is a track in the back yard so if you dont kown the truth dont comment please

#19.1.1.2.1 micheal on 02/01/12 at 02:19 PM

and also the shooting the gun in the garage is not true. you can call the detective like we did and he said he could not find a bullet hole in the garage any where when he looked. this is what the roommates were saying that he shot a gun in the garage.

#19.2 carla on 02/01/12 at 02:27 PM

it cost 96.00 for each person to be evicted, He and I do not have that kind of money right now

#20 james on 02/01/12 at 08:21 AM

wow now this is funny ,,, worth the cost of the paper...

#21 life-long citizen on 02/01/12 at 01:04 PM

I knew John several years ago and the actions alleged in this article do not sound like him at all. My first thoughts would be that he had a good reason for acting the way he did.

I also know that the Barrow County Sheriff Dept. has gone down hill since the election of Smith. From personal experience, they refuse to take action and make arrests when law-abiding citizens call for help. I even work in law enforcement but in another county.

#22 some guy on 02/01/12 at 02:21 PM

This situation was let to get way out of hand by an obviously incompetent police force...This should have been taking care of long b4 it got to this...police nowadays think they can just pick and choose what they want to be concerned about

#23 fiscal resident on 02/01/12 at 02:26 PM

Does any one know the cost of getting a swat team in place???Im just curious how much it cost us (the taxpayers) to send them to a empty house?

#23.1 carla on 02/01/12 at 02:31 PM

me too, the 3 room mates told police he was in the house with a gun when they knew he had left the house, that's the only reason swat was called is because of what the room mates said..todays newspaper even says he left the house and the room mates told police THEY were adament that he was still in the house. also they told police he fired a shot in the garage when he did NOT fire a shot in the garage, detectives even said they did not find any evidence of a gun being fired in the house and no bullett holes were found as well..

Man faces simple assault charges after barricade situation

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Man faces simple assault charges after barricade situation

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