Acworth officer attacked by naked man 'high on drugs', police say

ACWORTH, Ga - Acworth police say a naked man, who was high on drugs, attacked one of their officers.

Police got a call from the Deerfield Lodge Sunday evening. Investigators say 37-year-old Kelly Holcomb, who was bare naked, entered one of the rooms at the Deerfield Lodge and punched a woman in the eye and a man in the face. Acworth police say the couple didn't know Holcomb.

"He was naked and believed to be intoxicated on multiple different types of drugs," said Officer Eric Mistretta.

Mike Poyner was in the hotel room downstairs. He says he heard the commotion. 

"Heard a lot of banging around. It sounded like a scuffle someone was like "Help. Help," said Poyner.

Officer Taniesha Palarche was the first to respond. Investigators say she approached Holcomb, and he started hitting her and put her in a choke hold.

"During the fight she suffered some injuries to her face and had a tooth that was lost during the fight," said Officer Mistretta.

When back up officers arrived, Holcomb kicked one of them. They tried to restrain him, even used a taser, but it was unsuccessful.

"While officers were trying to restrain the suspect Metro EMS arrived at the scene to assist and were able to administer a sedative to calm Holcomb down," said Officer Mistretta.

Holcomb was taken to the hospital and once released, he was sent to jail. He has nine charges against him including aggravated battery against law enforcement.

Officer Palarche is recovering from her injuries and should be back to work by the end of the week.

"It hurts me to hear about the young officer getting hurt. They're good people," said Poyner.