FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Arterio Crumbley is now a free man, out of jail after being wrongfully accused of shooting a Clayton County Police officer.
In the original incident on March 2, police said Clayton Officer Ryan Richey was shot in the waist during a response to an armed robbery call in front of a business on Riverdale Road. A victim in the armed robbery was also shot in the hand, police said.
The incident sparked an hours-long manhunt for the suspect, who police identified at the time as Crumbley. The 25-year-old later turned himself in.
"People were calling me like, you on the news. You’re on the news, they’re saying it’s you. I thought it was a joke, and people just playing. Then my neighbor called me, like, 'They were kicking in my door. They think it's you.' I’m telling him, 'No,'" Crumbley told 11Alive's Hope Ford.
He told police at the time of the shooting, he was 10 miles away at his home in Fayetteville. Crumbley just moved into the home and was only there for 21 hours before he would have to go to police, hoping to clear his name.
"I had all type of proof. I had pictures with my son sitting right here. We were eating ice cream. I had the neighbors saying it wasn't me. The man at the store, I heard he got on the news saying 'Hey, Crumbley is not the one you’re supposed to have,'" he said.
It took two weeks before police could use his cell phone to place him at his home. It took another four weeks for police to tell media outlets, 17-year-old Charles Jakaobe Santana Payne was the actual suspect.
"My girl just showed me the picture of him and I'm like, 'Yeah, I know him from the neighborhood, but how y’all get me mixed up with him?'" Crumbley said.
Police said several witnesses mistakenly identified Crumbley as the suspect. Although Crubmley's charges were dropped on March 16, he wasn't released from Henry County Jail until April 14 due to a violation of probation warrant he received on a crime he committed as a 14-year-old.
After he was released, he told 11Alive exclusively about his time spent in jail.
"That was the hardest six weeks. Every day I came out, I had to come out and shackles and chains. Officers in Henry County telling me, 'You’re a cop shooter, you’re in violation. We don’t care,'" Crumbley said.
"I haven't been in trouble in years. I couldn’t sleep, I haven’t slept since I’ve been arrested. It was just hard being in a room by yourself. You start to get crazy and start talking to yourself," he continued.
As he relived his experience, his 3-year-old son clung to him on his lap.
"He's been up under me all day. He ain’t left my side," Crumbley said with a smile as his giggling son sat on his lap. "That’s all I wanted was to get back to my family."
Crumbley said officers with Henry County drove him back to his home, and offered him an apology. He said he still hasn't heard from anyone in Clayton County.
"I want an apology and then I'm going to sue them. I'm going to sue them," he said.
Police are still searching for Payne.