Citizen Helps Cop Arrest 7-Foot Man

Citizen Helps Cop Arrest 7-Foot Man

HOLLY SPRINGS -- A Cherokee County city plans to honor a Good Samaritan who helped a 5-foot, 4-inch female officer subdue a drug suspect who stands nearly 7 feet tall.

Officer Julie Ann Welch stopped a car on May 10 on Highway 5 because the driver wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

She says the passenger, Mike Schmidt, of Canton, was acting suspiciously so she told him to get out of the car.

"He just continually disobeyed my commands," Welch tells WSB-TV. "He kept putting his hands in his pocket. He was shaking horribly."

Welch says she found cocaine and drug paraphernalia on Schmidt.

Her dashboard camera caught the action as she started to handcuff Schmidt.

He struggled and tried to run but Welch refused to let go.

"I would pull him backwards off balance and try to pull his shirt, but I couldn't reach that far up," she said.

Welch and Schmidt crossed a nearby road and landed in a briar patch, still struggling.

Steve Walker saw what was happening, and helped Welch subdue the man.

"He showed up after we started rolling around in the briars," Welch said. "It makes the police department feel really good that our citizens support us in that manner and will come and help us."

The mayor and police chief will present Walker with a commendation for bravery at the next City Council meeting June 19.

Schmidt is free on bond. He declined to talk to WSB-TV.