Elderly Man Arrested During Loganville City Council Meeting

This article was originally posted Sept. 12 at 11:30 p.m.

An elderly man was arrested during the Loganville City Council meeting Thursday (Sept. 12) on obstruction and disorderly conduct charges. 

During the public comment potion at the end of the meeting, William D. Chapman went up to the podium to speak about a couple of issues. He first gave his opinion on the council's approval of the tag reader system, calling it a "revenue source" and "not a law enforcement tool" and comparing it to Google Maps' street view option.

He then talked about a personal letter he received from City Manager Bill Jones two days ago. He said Jones asked him for information about the Loganville Police Department. Chapman handed the city manager three letters addressed to him, the mayor and the city attorney and said they should read and pass them.

When Chapman wanted to talk further about other issues, the mayor and council warned him that his two minutes for public comment was up.

Despite police officers repeatedly asking him to take a seat, he simply stood at the podium and refused to leave for a few minutes. He said that because another commenter ran over two minutes, he thought he would have the same benefit. 

When Loganville police officers eventually tried to escort him out of the room, he complained that he was in poor health and he needed to sit down next to his wife in the audience.

Authorities resorted to using force to get Chapman out of the council chambers. He continued to show resistance when he was outside the chambers, according to Assistant Police Chief Dick Lowry.

Chapman was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction.