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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

One of two beating, kidnapping suspects arrested

One of two suspects in last week's kidnapping and beating of 26-year-old Calvin Creamer was arrested Saturday, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Creamer, of Rome, was visiting Naeem Omar Milligan in Marietta the morning of Oct. 8 when authorities said Milligan beat Creamer and bound him with duct tape.

He and another man stole Creamer's vehicle, took him to east Bibb County, slit his throat and left him in a wooded area off Jeffersonville Road, according to authorities.

Troy Donald Harvey, 21, Milligan's suspected accomplice, remains at the Cobb County jail on charges of battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment, authorities said. Bond is set at $75,000.

He faces additional charges of aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit murder in Bibb County, said Capt. Mike Smallwood of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

Milligan, who faces similar charges, remains at large.

"We feel like he's somewhere in the metro Atlanta area," Smallwood said.

Both men could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

About 8:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Creamer traveled to an apartment complex near Franklin Road in Marietta to meet Milligan, authorities said. The men reportedly knew each other and had planned to meet that day.

"They went in the apartment and that's when he beat him, duct taped him, and robbed him of his car keys and belongings," Smallwood said. "Then he made him walk outside and get in the trunk."

For hours, authorities said, Creamer was driven around the metro Atlanta suburb locked in the trunk of a 2009 black Nissan Versa, a rental car he used for business.

"Milligan went somewhere to pick up Harvey. They made various stops using Creamer's stolen credit card. They went to McDonald's," Smallwood said.

The men eventually reached a wooded area near the former Lakeside recreational park in east Bibb County. Creamer was beaten nearly to death and cut in the neck, according to authorities.

Sheriff's deputies located Creamer after drivers reported seeing a badly injured man in the area. Creamer was treated at The Medical Center of Central Georgia and released by Monday.

Early Thursday, authorities in Clayton County discovered the abandoned rental car burning at a location in Riverdale.

"The Marietta Police Department did an excellent job with this," Smallwood said. "Once we called them with our information, it was just a short time later that they had made an arrest."

The incident remains under investigation in Marietta and Bibb County.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bibb County Sheriff's Office at (478) 746-9441, the Macon Regional CrimeStoppers anonymous tip line at (877) 68-CRIME or the Marietta Police Department at (770) 794-5300.

To contact writer Ashley Tusan Joyner, call 744-4347