Parrish arrested after multi-county manhunt

Published 5:33 pm Friday, March 10, 2017

Ronnie Aaron Parrish turned himself in to Georgia State Patrol Thursday after a multi-county manhunt pressured him to surrender, said GSP.

Parrish was wanted on outstanding warrants from the February term Grand Jury. The warrants list two counts of burglary, one theft by receiving and one entering auto. The charges stem from two separate incidents, said DCSO Lt. Redell Walton.

GSP rushed a residence outside Decatur County they believed Parrish to be at on Wednesday, but an accomplice helped him escape, according to GSP Sgt. Jeromy Roberts.According to Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin, warrants have been out for Parrish’s arrest for the past couple of weeks. Griffin said the DCSO reached out to Parrish’s family and advised he turn himself in.

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“After a couple weeks passed, that didn’t happen because of threats he made about law enforcement,” Griffin said.

The DCSO handed the case over to GSP because of “the perceived conflict of not treating Parrish fairly,” Griffin said.

Parrish was involved in a conflict with the DCSO at Bikefest 2012 where he was allegedly beaten by deputies, followed by a cover up of the incident. Parrish was arrested and charged with obstruction of an officer and attempting to remove a firearm from law enforcement. He filed a civil suit with Decatur County over the alleged mistreatment.

Parrish won a $200,000 settlement after federal trial revealed three of the deputies involved in the incident at Bikefest were guilty of misleading the FBI and altering incident reports.

In August 2016, Bainbridge Public Safety arrested Parrish for possession of meth.