A Georgia father attending a church event to feed the homeless grabbed his gun to protect his family when they were confronted by a naked child molester.
On July 22, Tae Lovelace and his family attended the church event in Trailblazer Park in Newton County, Georgia, when 21-year-old Josten Meeler, clad only in his underwear, approached them, then stripped to expose himself. Lovelace recalled other families were present; Lovelace said he asked Meeler to leave several times, according to WSB.
Lovelace added, “Not only did he come back naked, he ran directly up to my kids and the mother of my child, and they were frightened. I asked him, ‘Would you please leave the scene you’re causing trouble. You don’t even have on any clothes.’”
Meeler finally left, but according to Lovelace, he returned, acting more aggressively, as the Ledger-Enquirer reported. The Covington News stated that the police report said Meeler had reportedly been “running towards several children with his arms open and appeared to be grabbing himself.” Lovelace commented, “He was already touching people before he was naked so when he came up running directly toward the kids, that’s a problem. It could’ve went sour if I didn’t have anything to defend myself. I didn’t know what he was capable of doing.”
At that point, Lovelace acted. “It’s a family event so everybody was pretty much frightened so at that point in time, I go and get my firearm.” Telling his grandmother to call 911, Lovelace chased Meeler away until Meeler jumped into a pond where he tried to hide; Lovelace held him at gunpoint.
When Covington police arrived, they told Lovelace to drop his gun, which he did.
Lovelace said, “While the cop has his firearm toward me, the guy gets up and runs away again and jumps in the river.” But Covington police later captured Meeler at the scene and arrested him.
Lovelace told WSB, “Had I not been licensed to carry at that moment who knows what this guy could have done to my family or any of the other families that were here.”
Meeler was charged with child molestation, public indecency, and being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
H/T The Maven