Around the Region: Man Accused of Throwing Baby, Toddler Shoots Self in Thumb and More

Residents Turn Toxic Site Into Zonolite Park - North Druid Hills Patch

An area that was once an asbestos-poisoned wetland is now a new park in the Emory University area just south of North Druid Hills thanks to local volunteers, including the South Fork Conservancy.

In an article published on the Saporta Report, Ben Smith wrote, "Zonolite Park is 12 acres near Briarcliff and Clifton Roads, where the South Fork of Peachtree Creek parallels railroad tracks. For two decades beginning in 1950, freight trains stopped at the W.R. Grace Co. plant and dumped as much as 1,225 tons of raw material for attic insulation marketed as Zonolite."

Read more on North Druid Hills Patch.

- South Cobb Patch

A 30-year-old Austell man has been indicted in connection with the beating of his 8-week-old son.

The indictment, handed down Thursday, alleges that Joseph Rucker McFall shook, threw and hit the infant between Aug. 30, 2012, and Oct. 29, 2012. The baby suffered multiple broken bones, and an acute brain injury that is believed to have left him blind.

Visit South Cobb Patch for more on this story.

- Canton-Sixes Patch

A Waleska man is behind bars at the Cherokee Adult Detention Facility after threatening to kill his long-time girlfriend with a knife late last month.

Terry Lee Brooks was arrested on March 24 for crimes resulting from a domestic dispute that had been in progress for two days. According to the Cherokee Sheriff's Office incident report, Brooks, who is allegedly bipolar and was off his medication, began assaulting his girlfriend of ten years after she tried to call 911 for an unrelated matter.

According to the girlfriend and her daughter, Brooks used a broom handle to smash out a window, then kicked over furniture and appliances.

Read the full story on Canton-Sixes Patch.

- Buford Patch

A Buford man reportedly justified striking a kitten with a tree limb by saying the cat had been "acting like he was going to antagonize my pit bull."

Michael Paul Labron Glover, 40, of 1846 Sturgeon Road in Buford, called 911 on April 2 to report his neighbor's cat had been antagonizing his pit bull, which was chained in his mother's back yard. According to the police report, Glover said the cat had been tearing up his mother's garden as well and he was "sick of it."

Read the full story on Buford Patch.

Toddler Shoots Self in Thumb - Sandy Springs Patch

A three-year-old child was injured Monday afternoon after shooting himself in the thumb at the home of his father's girlfriend.

Police believe the child crawled under a bed where the girlfriend kept a .380 pistol. The child then discharged the gun, shooting himself in the thumb. 

Sandy Springs Patch has more on this story.