Wis. suspect may have Georgia arrest history

Man with same name, birthdate arrested in May in the Atlanta area.

The man accused of driving a maroon SUV into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin has a decadeslong history of criminal activity. That record may include a run-in with local law enforcement in the Atlanta metro area earlier this spring, as first reported by CBS46 (WGCL- TV).

Darrell E. Brooks, 39, is accused of driving into the Waukesha crowd Sunday, killing six people — including an 8-year-old child — and injuring dozens more. Less than six months before that day, a 39-year-old man with the same name and the same birthdate was arrested in Fulton County and charged with battery.

A spokesman from the arresting agency, the Union City Police Department, told The Atlanta Journal-constitution on Thursday that police haven’t “connected the identity of the subject to the parade incident.”

A copy of the May 27 offense report reviewed by the AJC suggests a match could be possible. Aside from the identical name and date of birth, the phone number listed for the man arrested in Union City bears a Wisconsin area code.

Per the report, police were dispatched to the Country Hearth Inn on Shannon Parkway in the early hours of May 27 after receiving a “fight call.”

There, a witness told police he overheard Brooks striking a female companion several times. The woman on the scene had a slightly swollen face with unusual black discoloration around the eyes, the report said. Her testimony led to police charging Brooks with battery.

Brooks was transported to the East Point Jail in Fulton County. AJC calls to the jail were not returned early Thursday afternoon.

In Wisconsin, Darrell Brooks Jr. was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide on Tuesday, the same day a sixth victim, 8-year-old Jackson Sparks, died of injuries suffered Sunday. Brooks faces the possibility of an additional charge of first-degree intentional homicide for the child’s death.

Bail for Brooks was set at $5 million cash. A Gofundme page aimed at raising bail for him has been pulled from the platform and the person who set it up has been banned from using the website for future fundraisers, a spokesperson for Gofundme said Wednesday.

MARY MATHIS/THE NEW YORK TIMES Mourners gather Nov. 22 at a candlelight vigil for the victims — six people have died and dozens were injured — of last Sunday’s parade attack at Cutler Park in Waukesha, Wis.