Who was the police officer in the Gwinnco Muffler Driveway that Tony McWaters saw between 8:45 and 9:00 PM on the night of the murder?

 

            There were four police officers whose assigned zones encompassed or were very near the Gwinnco Muffler Shop. Chris Robertson, as the Sugar Hill City Marshall was responsible for the city itself. GCPD Patrolman Brian Reddy was responsible for that area of Sugar Hill below Highway 20. Thus the muffler shop was in his zone. Patrolman Michael Chapel was responsible for The City of Buford, and that area of Sugar Hill above Highway 20. Finally, Sergeant Donald (Rooster) Stone supervised Reddy and Chapel.

 

            Marshall Chris Robertson was disliked by all of the GCPD officers, but he and Brian Reddy hated one another. They were rumored to have come to blows on at least one occasion. Reddy would not deal with Robertson, and Chapel would be forced to leave his zone to deal with the Marshall. On the afternoon of April 15th, 1993, there was an alarm at the Sugar Hill City Hall, and Reddy would not answer the dispatcher. Chapel finally answered the call with his supervisor, Sergeant Donald “Rooster” Stone but Robertson did not meet him. Finding nothing wrong, Chapel left.

 

            After that the officers began to answer the storm related calls. When these stopped, Stone, Reddy and Chapel decided to go to the Northside Firehouse Fire 14, adjacent to the police station to watch TV and monitor the progress of the storm. Independent evidence establishes that they were there from about 8:30 to 10:00 PM.

 

            This left Marshall Chris Robertson as the only on-duty officer that could have been in that driveway during that period. Because their units were identifiable, off-duty officers could not afford to spend that much time outside the muffler shop, and imposters would not have dared.

 

            As he was leaving the firehouse, Chapel received a call to go to an address on Arden Drive at 9:57 PM, Arden Drive was at the far northern end of his zone, miles away from Gwinnco Muffler. He arrived at the call at 10:08 and departed at 10:11 PM.