An Atlanta police department has recieved backlash after arresting a man for committing a violent home invasion despite evidence suggesting his innocence.
Georgia resident Katherine Jensen reported her ex-boyfriend, Charles Read, for allegedly breaking into her home, assaulting her by choking her and then fleeing on June 15, 2024. The two have not been in contact for the last 20 years, reported Atlanta News First.
Read has denied the allegations against him, stating that it is physically impossible for him to have committed the crimes he is accused of because he has been paralyzed for the past 25 years. However, he was still arrested on March 20, 2025, and charged with aggravated assault despite having not been previously contacted by College Park authorities.
"She said I kicked in the door," Read explained. "I'm in a wheelchair and have been for 25 years."
"She never mentioned he was in a wheelchair," said Andrew Fleischman, Read's attorney. "That is probably the No. 1 thing you'd mention about somebody, especially if they're running away on foot."
According to Read, he was unaware of the fact that there was a warrant out for his arrest for nine months. He was informed of the warrant when entering a passport renewal process, after which he voluntarily contacted College Park Police officer Markenley Bolette and agreed to meet at the police station.
"I essentially surrendered myself because I was that innocent," Read said.
Body camera footage of Read's detention depicts Bolette attempting to handcuff him despite him protesting that he would fall. Read is cuffed and then proceeds to fall onto the ground.
"It's a ruse, man. It's an obvious attempt not to go to jail," another officer is heard saying.
"You may want to call the district attorney's office, because if the door was kicked in, he didn't kick it in," says one officer. Bolette later acknowledges the possibility that Jensen made a false report on video.
"I could have broken my hip [and] died, very quickly," Read said.
"I've never seen a case where somebody was so clearly innocent, and it would take so little work to establish it, and nobody was willing to do the work," Fleischman said.
