Glenn Harbison
The first national story, and every story since, has presented the perfect Normal Rockwell scene.
The setting is Mayberry, where all is quiet and peaceful, a place right out of a child’s story book. But there is Barney, the heavy handed deputy always looking under every rock to send the bad guys to the big house.
He gets his chance one peaceful Sunday afternoon when Andy and Helen are off fishing. Aunt Bea has allowed Opie to walk to town.
This isn’t safe. Opie could get lost, kidnapped or even worse. Barney locks Aunt Bea up for allowing Opie to be in harm’s way.
There you have the way the national media and every other media outlet outside Fannin County, Ga., has portrayed the arrest of Brittany Campbell
Patterson, 41, of Marble City Road in Mineral Bluff, Ga.
Her youngest son, Soren, had walked from their home in Marble City to the Dollar General Store in downtown Mineral Bluff.
Nowhere in any media reports has the other side of the story been told. However, there is another side, part of which is obvious in the sheriff deputy’s report narrative that is backed up by body cam footage, and part of which is the area itself.
First, there is the area where Soren was walking. It’s not a city street with a sidewalk, as portrayed by some media. It’s a grass shoulder on the side of Georgia 60 from Marble City Road to downtown Mineral Bluff. The average daily traffic count is 11,500 vehicles, according to Georgia Department of Transportation traffic data.
The majority of this is not local traffic, but traffic headed to the casino in Murphy. The area is not the crime-riddled streets of Atlanta, but neither is in Mayberry.
Recent incidents have included the discovery of a body – a case that remains in the minds of law enforcement – on the creek bank not far from the Dollar General Store. A drunk driver ran off the state highway into that same creek and wasn’t found for hours.
In another incident, as a deputy was answering a call for a family dispute, her patrol car was rammed hard enough to be immobilized at the intersection of Marble City Road and Georgia 60. This would have been within a few feet of where Soren walking, the other incidents within 100 yards or so.
The officer’s narrative had other clues to her concern over the situation. For instance:
* Soren did not know his mother’s telephone number;
* He incorrectly identified where she worked;
* When asked where he lived, he pointed along highway Spur 60, in the opposite direction of Marble City;
* He told the deputy he could not remember the last time he ate; and,
u The deputy wrote, “Soren was visibly upset but also did not seem to have the understanding of the situation.”
In regard to Mrs. Patterson, the report noted she was very “unsurprised or concerned” when contacted. She had left the house to go to Ellijay, Ga., when she said she “couldn’t find him anywhere.” She had left at 12:15 p.m. and expected to return around 9:15 p.m.
“She advised that he is very defiant and doesn’t listen to her, so she figured we (law enforcement) would be dealing with him at some point,” the deputy wrote.
The grandfather, who was at home, said he was not aware Soren was even supposed to be at the house. The grandmother said he is “out of control,” and they have discussed sending him to live with his dad.”
There is more to the narrative, and the body cam footage is even more telling. Nonetheless, there are two sides.
I, too, could second-guess whether or not the deputy could have handled the situation differently. That’s now in the hands of the justice system.
One last comment, the deputy wrote in her report when challenged by the grandmother that Mrs. Patterson could lose her job, saying “my concern was not that, but for the safety of the child.”
And there is the summary of the other side. Now you know why I don’t like being called “the media.” We’re just your local newspaper.
Glenn Harbison is publisher of The News Observer in Blue Ridge, Ga. He can be reached at 706-632-2019 or by email at glenn@thenewsobserver.com.