2 arrested for breaking into radio tower along Cheshire Bridge Road

ATLANTA - Two people were arrested last month after being found inside a radio tower just off Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta. 

The Atlanta Police Department released body camera video of the arrest shortly before 6 p.m. on Aug. 18. The video shows officers meeting with a man who witnessed the pair go into the utility shack at the base of the tower. 

"In that building, I saw two guys go in there and shut the door. They broke into it," the man told officers. "This is a radio station tower. I'm turning the transmitter off." 

"But there’s enough power there that could kill them," the man added. 

As officers approached the radio shack at the tower, they noted shoes and other items of clothing tossed about the fenced area. One of the officers climbed over the barbed-wire fence, as the other officer covered him. 

Hearing voices from inside, the officers yelled several times to "come out" of the building. Eventually, two people were seen opening the doors. 

"Put down what you got. Put everything down on the ground," the officer said, holding the pair at gunpoint. 

As the men walked down the stairs, one remarked, "I’m just here visiting him." To which the officer replied, "This ain’t a house to visit, my man."  

One of the men also quipped that he had been there for four months. 

Atlanta police say they found a backpack which contained crystal meth, scales, and syringes inside a radio tower, which two people were arrested for breaking into, on Aug. 18, 2024.  (Atlanta Police Department)

Inside, officers went through the contents. They found a backpack with a butane lighter, Zippo fluid and unknown crystals. Those crystals turned out to be crystal meth, police say, and the bag also contained scales and syringes. 

Joseph Marquis, 61, was charged with destruction of property, criminal trespass, and possession of a Schedule I drug. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail. 

Bryan Newcomb, 30, was charged with criminal trespass and destruction of property. 

Bryan Newcomb and Joseph Marquis were arrested after Atlanta police found them in a shack at a radio tower off Cheshire Bridge Road on Aug. 18, 2024.  (Atlanta Police Department)

The tower is located about 500 feet from an overpass which had to be replaced after a fire in December 2023. The span of Cheshire Bridge Road near Faulkner Road reopened in May.