Published: May 13, 2008 08:27 am      

Man booked for threats to family

Suspect arrested outside church

A 53-year-old Athens man was arrested on Mother’s Day for allegedly threatening his wife and grandson with a handgun during a domestic disturbance.

Carl Leroy Gooden was held in the Henderson County Jail Monday, charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, interference with an emergency phone call and public intoxication. Total bond on Gooden was set at $33,000. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the most serious of the charges, is a second-degree felony and carries a punishment range of two to 20 years confinement plus the possibility of a fine not to exceed $10,000.

According to APD reports, shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday police received a call from Betty Gooden’s daughter reporting an assault on her mother. APD Lt. Mike Davis said Gooden had torn the telephone connection from the wall of his Peach Street residence to prevent her from calling for help.

Officers Jason Bosher, Lorenzo Carranza and Ron McCurry were dispatched to the residence. When they arrived, they found that Gooden had left the residence.

Davis said officers learned Gooden had gone to Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on North Prairieville Street, where Sunday morning services were underway. When police arrived at the church they sent a person inside to tell Gooden the officers were looking for him. Gooden came outside and led them back to his car, where they found the gun he had allegedly used during the altercation.