Man who escaped courthouse convicted in separate incident
Dustin Cotton is also serving time in state prison on burglary and theft charges.
He crept up behind the woman who’d stopped at a gas station near her work, prosecutors said, pulled out a gun and put it to her head. He was going to steal her truck and planned to take her with him.
According to Assistant District Attorney John McClellan:
Dustin Cotton followed a nurse who worked at a nearby nursing home to a Marathon gas station at 2918 Martha Berry Highway on Jan. 30, 2017.
“He got out and put a gun to her head and said ‘don’t scream or I’ll shoot you,’” McClellan said.
With a .32-caliber revolver to her head, he attempted to pull her into her own truck but she resisted. He let go of her and fled in her 2002 Dodge Ram.
A Floyd County police officer caught up with Cotton after he crossed the Bartow County line and was joined by Adairsville police. An Adairsville police dog cornered him and bit Cotton on the hand during the pursuit.
“I’m not only proud of the officers that gave chase and brought him to heel, we’d also like to thank the Adairsville police K-9,” District Attorney Leigh Patterson said. “He took a bite out of crime.”
Jurors found Cotton guilty on kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated assault, hijacking a vehicle, as well as theft and stalking charges after a two day trial on Wednesday in Floyd County Superior Court.
Cotton, who is 27, is also serving time in state prison on burglary and theft charges as well as 10 years for escaping the Floyd County courthouse on May 8, 2017. He was captured later that night.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 6 at 1:30 p.m.