Officer: Arbery would have got a warning

Arbery died before officer found him

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A police officer testified Friday he planned to give Ahmaud Arbery a trespass warning for repeatedly entering a home under construction before the 25-year-old Black man was chased and shot dead by neighbors who saw him running from the property.

Glynn County police Officer Robert Rash said he spoke several times to the owner of the house, who sent him videos of Arbery visiting the site several times between Oct. 25, 2019, and Feb. 23, 2020 — the day Arbery was killed after a five-minute chase by white men in pickup trucks.

Rash said he had been looking for Arbery, whose identity was unknown at the time, to tell him to stay away from the home. He said police had a standard protocol for handling trespassers.

“Once we make contact with the person on the property, we explain to them the homeowner does not want them there,” Rash said. He added: “I explain to that person, if you ever come back onto this property for any reason, you will be arrested.”

Arbery was killed before the officer could find him.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a truck after he ran past their home, five doors from the construction site, on a Sunday afternoon. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, joined the chase in his truck and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

More than two months passed before the three men were arrested after the graphic video leaked online, deepening a national reckoning over racial injustice.

All three are on trial at the Glynn County courthouse in Brunswick. Defense attorneys say the men reasonably suspected Arbery was a burglar and were trying to hold him for police. They say Travis McMichael, 35, fired his gun in self-defense when Arbery attacked with his fists.

Larry English, who owns the unfinished home, has said there was no evidence Arbery stole from the site. Still, he said he was concerned the same person kept coming into the house after dark.

A patrol officer assigned to the neighborhood, Rash said he was trying to track down the young man who had been recorded inside English’s house. He shared the clips with neighbors, including Greg McMichael, 65.

Rash said he shared Greg McMichael’s phone number with English in a text message that noted Greg McMichael was a former police officer and retired investigator for the local district attorney. He said it was Greg McMichael’s idea to let English know he could help watch the property.

“Did you deputize Greg McMichael? Did you give him any authority as a police officer?” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski asked Rash.

“No ma’am,” the officer replied, saying he never intended for Greg McMichael to do anything other than call police if the man was seen inside the house again.

“Greg has training and experience,” Rash said. “He, in my opinion, would be an expert witness to be on the phone with 911.”

On Feb. 11, 2020, less than two weeks before Arbery was killed, Rash was again dispatched to the neighborhood after Travis McMichael called 911 to report seeing the same man outside the unfinished home — and telling dispatchers the man reached for his pocket as if he had a gun.

Rash said Travis McMichael’s report that the man could be armed made him more of a potential threat.