Man cleared of double shooting involved Clayton County officer waiting for apology
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - The Clayton County man who was initially charged in a double shooting involving a police officer are being dropped is discussing those charges being dropped.
"Nobody apologized. Nobody still reached out to me. I haven’t talked to anybody. I haven’t seen a judge since first appearance," Arterio Crumbley told FOX 5 just days after being cleared.
Clumbley had stopped by the Clayton County Police Department on Friday to collect his personal property. For the past month, he had been sitting in jail for a crime he said he didn't commit.
"And there's a whole suspect out there, he's on the run," said Crumbley. "He's still free. Living his life."
The District Attorney said the 25-year-old is not the gunman in a March 2 double-shooting on Riverdale Road.
Arterio Crumbley leaves the Clayton County Police Department after picking up personal property on April 15, 2022. (FOX 5)
Crumbley said he got calls from friends after the police department released his photo. He thought it was a joke until he saw it for himself.
He then turned himself in to police, but he and his family maintained he was not the same person shown on security video in a yellow sweatsuit, police believe shot Officer Ryan Richey and another man during an armed robbery at a shopping center in the 5400 block of Riverdale Road.
Crumbley provided police with an alibi. Clayton County police said investigators verified Crumbley's alibi and identified the police department's new suspect as 17-year-old Charles Payne.
Charles Payne (Clayton County Police Department)
Police are trying to find Charles Payne and ask anyone with information to call the police department.
Who is Arterio Crumbley?
Arterio Crumbley (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Crumbley's girlfriend, Saila Bedford, told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes, "He was nowhere near the location."
Bedford said Crumbley was miles from the crime scene, at the couple's new residence in Fayetteville the day of the shooting.
"Clayton County, the police department, if that's who it was, they have already come out here," Bedford said. "They've searched his phone, so they know his location where he was all day. We have plenty of neighbors to attest he was here."
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Crumbley told FOX 5 Atlanta that investigators were looking for the wrong man. He said the man seen in dressed in yellow inside the store is not him.
He said he was in Fayetteville all day and was nowhere near the crime scene.
Crumbley admitted to having a troubled past and used to live in an apartment complex behind the strip mall where the shooting took place, but he has since moved to Fayette County. He said he is trying to turn his life around which is why he is turning himself in to authorities.
He told FOX 5 he believes he had a violation of probation issue, but professed his innocence in the shooting.
Who was the Clayton County officer shot during an armed robbery?
Officer Ryan Richey has made a full recovery and returned to the force, officials said.
Richey was injured and rushed to Atlanta Medical Center where he underwent surgery.
Just after 9:30 p.m., police said Officer Richey was out of surgery and being released from the hospital.
Police said he "would love to heal privately."
The other victim in the shooting, whose name has not been released, also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police investigate after a Clayton County police officer and another man were shot on March 2, 2022. (FOX 5)
The crime and manhunt
Investigators believe a man wearing a yellow sweatsuit walked into a store in the Windjammer Shopping Center and fired upon the officer and other victim, but the officer did not return fire.
A manhunt followed and police urged people to stay indoors and lock their doors. Officers closed a section of Riverdale Road as more officers swarmed into the area.
Three Clayton County schools — Northcutt Elementary School, North Clayton Middle School and North Clayton High School — were placed on lockdown.
Within an hour of the shooting, investigators released a photo of showing the man in yellow inside the store.
Arterio Crumbley turned himself into the Clayton County jail just hours after a double shooting on March 2, 2022. (FOX 5)
Around 8 p.m., investigators specifically named Crumbley as the suspect, release a photo of him and gave a full description.
An hour later, police said they were scaling back their operations in the area and citizens could return to normal.
By 11 p.m., Crumbley had surrendered to authorities while maintaining he was not the man seen in the early surveillance image.