ATLANTA (AP) - The mother of a man who died after a struggle with sheriff's deputies in Georgia can be heard in a 911 call screaming her son is trying to bite people.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Monday released the recording of the call made by Mary Ann Sherman just after 9 p.m. Friday. Sherman tells the dispatcher that she is in a car with her husband, her son and the son's girlfriend on southbound Interstate 85. She says her son is "freaking out" and has taken a synthetic drug known as spice.
The call lasts nearly 11 minutes, and Sherman screams frequently as the dispatcher tries to determine where they are and what exactly is happening.
"He's going to bite us. He's going to bite us," Sherman says.
Sherman says they've pulled off the interstate with their flashers on. She says they're trying to keep her son in the car to restrain him.
"Hit him in the head. Hit him in the head. Or in the stomach. Hit him in the stomach," Sherman yells.
"Ma'am, is he still in the vehicle?" the dispatcher says.
"Yes, we're trying to hold him in the vehicle. He's biting his girlfriend," Sherman says.
The dispatcher asks whether Sherman's son has been drinking, if he's tried to harm himself and whether he has any weapons.
"Listen, he did spice and it messed his brain up," Sherman said. "Spice" is one of several names for a synthetic marijuana drug mix.
When Coweta County sheriff's deputies arrived, they tried to gain control of 32-year-old Chase Alan Sherman. During a struggle, one of the deputies used a stun gun but he continued to resist the deputies and medical personnel.
HE went into medical distress and emergency personnel performed CPR. He was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead.
The bureau is investigating the death and an autopsy was planned.