Dacula Man to Authorities: 'Ya'll Better Take Me out Before I Take You out'

Law enforcement officers with the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, Loganville Police, Winder Police and Lawrenceville Police descended upon a Dacula residence on May 26 after a man who allegedly assaulted two Barrow County Sheriff's deputies holed up inside the home.

Gwinnett and Barrow deputies were conducting safety checkpoints when one of the Gwinnett deputies received a hit on a tag reader indicating a vehicle, which had just passed in the opposite direction on Atlanta Highway, was registered to a wanted person. The deputy conducted a traffic stop and determined the driver was not the wanted person. The driver, however, indicated the wanted person, Ashley Virginia McElroy, was staying at a Patrick Mill Road residence approximately two miles away from the location of the traffic stop.

Deputies from both agencies went to the Patrick Mill Road home. The Gwinnett deputies located McElroy inside and took her into custody. The Barrow deputies were still outside when a Jeep Wrangler pulled into the driveway.

The Barrow deputies, according to the incident report, waited until the driver, later identified as Darrell Thomas Parker, 39, of Dacula, stepped out of the vehicle before approaching him. Once the deputies identified themselves, Parker reportedly ran back to the Jeep, got inside and locked the doors.

The two Barrow deputies ordered Parker out of the vehicle at gunpoint. 

"Parker did not comply and sat and stared at me for four to five seconds and put his hands in the air," the deputy wrote in the report. "Parker then quickly started the Jeep and fled the driveway."

According to the report, the two deputies "were close to being struck by the Jeep when Parker fled, and gravel was thrown at us from the tires spinning out as Parker was fleeing. Parker utilized his vehicle as a weapon against us with full knowledge that his manner of operating the vehicle could lead to death or serious injury."

Approximately two minutes later, another Barrow County Sheriff's deputy spotted Parker's vehicle. Parker reportedly turned right across a large field on Bold Springs Road. The deputy was unable to pursue. Authorities established a perimeter and deployed K-9s and contacted Gwinnett Air One, GCPD's helicopter, to assist in locating Parker.

After learning Parker was possibly staying at an Indian Shoals Road residence in Dacula, all agencies involved (Gwinnett County Police Department, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, Loganville Police, Winder Police and Lawrenceville Police) went to the residence. Upon arrival, a GCPD officer used the public address system on one of the patrol cars to order anyone in the residence to come outside. Two people exited the home.

When questioned, one of the residents said Parker was not at the home, but later said he was "unsure" and gave consent for authorities to search the residence. The Jeep which Parker had been driving was located behind the residence covered in a blue tarp. Parker wasn't found during the initial search of the residence, but deputies decided to conduct a second check and found Parker hiding in the ceiling above a bedroom area.

"Parker was ordered numerous times to show his hands and come down from the ceiling," the report stated. "At one point Parker yelled, 'Ya'll better take me out before I take you out.' "

Once Parker's actual location was determined, authorities attempted to use tasers to get him out of the ceiling. Parker still refused to comply. 

A Barrow County Sheriff's deputy began negotiating with Parker.

"During the negotiations, Parker kept yelling he didn't do anything, was sick of his wife getting him put in jail and started crying," the deputy wrote in the arrest report.

Parker was eventually convinced to come out of the ceiling and was taken into custody. He was booked into the Barrow County jail on charges of fleeing or attempting to elude, two counts of aggravated stalking, two counts of aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, reckless driving, speeding, aggressive driving, failure to obey signs or control devices and removing or affixing license plate with intent to conceal or misrepresent.

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