Macon houses, cars allegedly lit on fire on Election Day. NAACP says it’s hate crime

The NAACP has called for hate crime charges to be brought against a man who allegedly shot at and set fire to multiple cars and houses in Macon on Election Day.

The man also was accused of making racist comments during the incident, which happened around 8 p.m. on the 200 block of Northridge Drive, according to an incident report from the sheriff’s office.

A resident and family member of the suspect told 911 dispatchers 51-year-old Scott Malkowski, was firing shots outside of their home.

Malkowski was seen pouring gasoline onto several vehicles that caught on fire, the report said.

The caller told deputies he was “acting abnormally” days prior. On the day of the incident, she recommended he go to a hospital for treatment, according to the report. The caller told deputies she had to lock up his guns in a closet before telling him this.

The caller locked him outside after he retrieved a gun from another area in the house, deputies said. Then his vehicle was gone.

Shortly after, she heard gunshots, saw him return to the front door and “heard a loud banging noise.” He was kicking the door before leaving again.

Then deputies saw “a big burst of fire coming from the vehicles parked in (a) driveway” where Malkowski ran from, according to the report and video footage.

Malkowski was arrested and a gun was recovered by deputies, according to the report.

A neighbor, Katina Atmore, had just arrived home from voting when she saw Malkowski’s green Nissan Pathfinder back out of his driveway and pull into the front of her house.

“He said, ‘The Blacks are taking over,’ and some other racial things,” Atmore told The Telegraph. “I quickly got in the house and thought, ‘Ok it’s already starting,’ because it was Election Day.”

Then, Atmore saw him light a match and throw it at her three vehicles, which caught fire in the driveway, she said. The flames also damaged her garage door.

Another car that belonged to neighbors Cathy and Frederic Southiere was lit on fire and “severely damaged” a part of their house.

Like the other neighbors, Cathy and Frederic Southiere knew Malkowski personally. They recalled some casual interactions in the past.

“He used to pick things up from us if we were throwing something out that he could use, he chopped down a couple trees,” Frederic Southiere said. “Never had a problem with him.”

Another house and vehicle was shot at, a deputy said in the report.

The incident report and jail records said Malkowski was charged with simple battery, two charges of aggravated assault, two charges of second-degree criminal damage to property and four charges of arson.

The sheriff’s office referred The Telegraph to Macon District Attorney Anita Howard in regards to whether Scott Malkowski’s charges will be upgraded or not.

“The matter is under review, and charges will be evaluated based upon the evidence and the law,” the district attorney’s office said.

NAACP’s response

Gwenette Westbrooks, president of the Macon chapter of the NAACP, is asking for Malkowski’s charges to be upgraded to a hate crime, insinuating some of the residents he attacked were Black. Westbrooks, members of the NAACP and the victims of the attack were in front of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office’s Downtown Annex for a news conference Friday.

“We’re talking about someone who used racial slurs while in the act of these crimes in fear that Kamala Harris was going to win the election and that Black people were going to take over,” Westbrooks said Friday. “This to me – to the NAACP – is considered a hate crime.”

The impacted residents of Northridge Drive agreed with Westbrooks wanting the charges against Malkowski to be upgraded to a hate crime and said they have not received calls from either Howard or investigators from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Howard had sent them a letter with information on counseling, but neither she nor an assistant had called the affected families, according to Cathy and Fred Southiere.

Atmore said the neighborhood has never had any issues such as this. She had heard that Malkowski was upset “the election was not going to go the way he had hoped,” and was surprised that the charges were not upgraded.

“I just would like everybody to know that it’s a great community that we live in,” Cathy Southiere said. “The subdivision is great, and it’s unfortunate that this did happen, and we’re hoping that we can get some justice out of this.”

Edward Dubose, a national board member of the NAACP, said they would be looking into legal options and would share information with the organization’s general counsel. He doesn’t want this situation to be downplayed and will make sure that Westbrooks has all the resources she needs.

“Can you imagine what this does to the community?” said Dubose. “It strikes fear, and it says to anybody that ‘we can do this and we can get away with it,’ and that’s why this is significant.”

Westbrooks plans to host a town hall with Mayor Lester Miller, Howard and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office to address the issue.

This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 4:18 PM.