Crime & Safety
Coronavirus: GA Man Accused of Blowing On Officer Faces Felony
A Georgia man told a TV station he was only trying to show a park officer he hadn't been drinking when he blew on him. He ended up in jail.
GEORGIA — A Georgia man accused of blowing in a park officer’s face got a lesson in social distancing during a coronavirus pandemic — he was charged with a felony.
David Christopher Ramzanali, 20, of Flowery Branch was charged with felony obstruction after blowing in an officer’s face during an altercation at Tallulah Gorge State Park, reports The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Ramzanali and some friends were in a restricted area below an overlook April 11 when park officer Sgt. Derek Dillard confronted them.
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According to an incident report from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Ramzanali “curses at and blew in Sgt. Dillard’s face.”
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Ramzanali was charged with felony obstruction and reckless conduct, and he was issued a restricted park area citation. He also spent a night in the Rabun County Jail and was released the next day on a $10,500 bond.
Ramzanali later told WSB-TV that it was all a misunderstanding — he blew at Dillard only to prove he hadn’t been drinking. Instead, he said, the officer “charged at me, threw me to the ground and put me in handcuffs.”
When asked if he could understand why Dillard might not appreciate being blown at during a coronavirus pandemic, Ramzanali said he did, “but I wasn’t thinking of what was going on on this Earth or anything like that.”
Col. Thomas Bernard, director of the Georgia DNR’s law enforcement division, later told WSB-TV that a DNR officer had tested positive for COVID-19. It wasn’t clear how the officer contracted the virus, Bernard said, but he was expected to make a full recovery.
The park department had handed out 476 citations after March 31 for not maintaining social distancing, but few went beyond a verbal warning.
“Most people will do the right thing,” Bernard said, “but for those who want to take it to the next level, yes, we will cite people for reckless conduct.”
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