Around the Region: Roller Derby Team Moves to Norcross, Man Pleads Guilty to Beating Woman With Dead Dog and Police Explorer Money Used to Buy Golf Cart

– Norcross Patch

If you've seen the movie "Whip It" or remember roller derby as a '70s spectacle sport, you may have this misconception that the Atlanta Rollergirls practice a ruthlessly abusive sport that involves throwing elbows and pushing players over railings.

That's not entirely the case.

"One of the misconceptions is that we just get on the track and we're just knocking the crap out of each other," said Michelle Brattain, head of public relations for the Atlanta team and also a third-year Rollergirl herself under the name Hate Ashbury. "But it's really a much more strategic kind of game, and it requires a lot of athleticism. I don't think a lot of people realize that."

While the league has been in Atlanta for almost eight years, it just moved its practice grounds this year to a warehouse space in the Norcross area. Located on Wilwat Drive near  on Jimmy Carter Boulevard, the practice area is where the league does everything from scrimmages, tryouts and workshops.

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– Sandy Springs Patch

Emmanuel Alfredo Tadeo, 28, pleaded guilty last week to killing his girlfriend’s pet Pomeranian and then using the dead animal as a weapon to beat the woman.

Tadeo, upset about a phone call he had just received, turned his anger on his girlfriend with whom he had history of abusing. The woman was kicked and beaten while she cowered on the floor. Tadeo also kicked and stomped the woman’s pet dog ‘Murphy’ when it rushed to its owner’s defense and at one point picked the dog up and flung it across the room. The woman begged Tadeo to allow her to take the injured dog to the veterinarian for treatment.

Tadeo instead took the dog outside and broke its neck. He returned to the apartment with the dead animal and told his girlfriend that he had put the dog ‘out of its misery’ so that he no longer needed treatment. Tadeo then began to beat the woman with the dead dog.

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– Canton-Sixes Patch

Canton Police Chief Bob Merchant accused the department's spokeswoman of carrying on a sexual relationship with a recently retired Sandy Springs Police captain and using funds from the agency's Explorers program to purchase a $6,000 customized golf cart for the man's disabled son in an internal memo obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta.

Canton Police Sgt. Stacy Bailey is the , officials with both agencies told Canton-Sixes Patch on Wednesday.

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