According to a Dalton Police Department incident report, On March 10th, 2023, Officer Miller and Officer McDaniel were dispatched to an address in reference to a disturbance in progress. Dispatch advised a firearm had been pulled on another party and that they had just left the scene. Officers made contact with the victim and immediately noticed she had blood on her hand. At the same time, officers noticed damage to her middle fingernail. The nail looked as if it had been pushed or almost pealed back toward her hand. Officers learned Leland Asa Dwight, 26, of Dalton, was on scene at the residence earlier and was heavily drinking alcohol. Because of serious vision impairment, he was driven to the residence by his girlfriend. According to the report, “His sister stated that when her brother drinks in excess, he has a history of acting belligerent and even extremely violent. Because of this, she quickly noticed when her brother had reached a level of intoxication that would be considered excessive. At that time, he was using vulgar, profane, and unbecoming language while being boisterous in the yard. She attempted to tell her brother that he should slow down with his consumption before he became too intoxicated. However, this only angered Leland to the point that he began to cause a disturbance in the yard. At some point during this verbal disturbance, Leland walks back over to the parked car he arrived in and retrieves a firearm from within it. She then described that he was wildly swinging the firearm around in a clearly reckless manner as he continued to be loud and boisterous while intoxicated.” At some point during this Leland’s grandfather came outside in an attempt to disarm Leland of the pistol. After their grandfather successfully did this, the victim saw Leland strike their grandfather, who is 79 years old, using a closed fist which knocked him out. She then saw Leland continue to punch him multiple times in the head as he was down on the ground. Officers located Leland and his girlfriend on Moonraker Place. According to the report, Leland’s son witnessed the entire thing. Leland was found to be in possession of a “Cobra brand model F.S .380 semiautomatic handgun” and marijuana. Leland was confirmed to be a convicted felon through a criminal history check. Leland was booked into the Whitfield County Jail, charged with public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault x2, pointing a pistol at another, cruelty to children in the 3rd degree, and battery.
Convicted felon pulls gun out during violent assault on woman and 79-year-old while drunk in Dalton
