HELEN, Ga. — A 51-year-old man faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault and child molestation, following an incident at a Helen hotel on Monday afternoon.
Officers with the Helen Police Department responded to the Econo Lodge on Edelweiss Strasse at approximately 4 pm on Dec. 15 regarding a report of public indecency.
Upon arrival, officers spoke with witness James Cantrell. Cantrell told police that the occupant of room 120, later identified as Jamie Scott Chuzie, had been standing in front of the open curtains without clothing. Cantrell stated that Chuzie was “exposing himself to all persons that walked by the room,” including minors.
Cantrell informed officers that he had asked Chuzie to leave the property, but Chuzie “made no effort to leave the location.”
A second witness, 50-year-old Scotty King, told police that Chuzie had exposed himself to King and his 15-year-old granddaughter. King also advised officers that “he believed that he had seen a gun.”
As officers approached the room on the first floor, they observed a firearm inside. Officers reported seeing what looked like a “9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun sitting in the window sill.” One officer noted that Chuzie was sitting next to the window unclothed.
When police announced their presence, Chuzie did not comply. An officer wrote in the incident report, “I then observed Chuzie reach up and take possession of the pistol.”
Officers drew their service weapons and retreated to cover while issuing commands for Chuzie to drop the gun and exit the room. Chuzie refused to exit, according to police. The report states that Chuzie “turned up the music in his room as if to drown out” the officers’ commands. Chuzie also repeatedly gestured rudely at the officers during the standoff.
Police Chief Aletha Barrett, the GBI Drug Task Force, and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team responded to the scene to assist.
Chuzie was later taken into custody without incident and booked into the White County Jail without a bond. He faces charges of obstruction of law enforcement officers, criminal trespass, aggravated assault, child molestation, and public indecency.
