Crime & Safety

Kidnap Suspect Identified, Will Not Face Charges

Two children allegedly taken from a gas station at 2 a.m. Wednesday were later found safe.

The DeKalb County Police Department has released the name of the person believed to be responsible for yesterday's kidnapping of two children, Jalen and Amari Mattison, from a gas station on Wesley Chapel Road.

The man is identified in a release by Dekalb police spokesperson Mekka Parish as Charles Watson of Stone Mountain. Watson turned himself in to DeKalb County Police Headquesters in Tucker at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

However, after interviewing the suspect, police detectives now believe that Watson did not intend to abduct the children and "do not plan to file charges against him at this time," according to the statement.

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The police statement says that Watson took the children from the gas station for safekeeping after the mother, Ashley Mattison, left them there. She was tending to her broken-down car and failed to return within half an hour, police said. 

 

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