Harrell booked twice this week on felony charges after incident on May 11

A Cedartown-area man was booked twice earlier this week for a shooting incident on Johnson Lake Road that saw truck tires popped and no major injuries reported, but could have escalated into a deadly incident per Polk County Police reports.

Police were called out to Johnson Lake Road on Thursday, May 11 around 9:30 p.m. after reports of shots being fired were relayed to officers from 911 operators. They arrived at the address to find a bloodied and agitated Dennis Harrell, 53, of Cedartown, who was difficult to understand with slurred speech.

Officers were unsure at this point of what happened, and were attempting to first help Harrell and prevent him from going back inside, but he wasn’t listening. Police were forced to use their Taser on him twice, an officer getting a dose of electricity each time attempting to hold him down and keep him from reaching a 12-gauge shotgun they found after he fell just feet away from it due to the effects of a second round of the use of a taser.

After being knocked down and cuffed by the effects of the Taser, police found a small gun in his pocket, a .22 magnum. Beside the shotgun, police also eventually located a Glock 36 .45 caliber handgun as well.

Harrell was checked out by EMS, but it was determined he wasn’t shot but instead sustained cuts in an altercation that happened prior to police showing up.

Officers also learned from those involved in the shooting incident before police arrived that Harrell shot out the tires of a family member’s truck, had fired at that family member and a friend trying to leave the home, and other residents had already fled due to his behavior.

Before he could be taken off to the Polk County Jail, Harrell complained of chest pains and was taken to AdventHealth Redmond by EMS with an officer in tow.

Police eventually booked him on Monday on felony charges including two counts of aggravated assault and a single charge of criminal damage to property, along with misdemeanor charges of obstructing law enforcement officers and two counts of reckless conduct.

After he was booked, Harrell was released on an initial $25,000 bond after being held on Monday, May 15.

Per information from law enforcement, Harrell was arrested on additional charges of aggravated assault and reckless conduct again for counts they hadn’t added at the time of his original booking. He was released after being booked on May 16 on a $5,000 bond.