Cobb County

Armed suspect in custody after standoff at Cobb County house

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An attempted car theft ended with a sledgehammer, a fist fight and then a SWAT standoff inside of a family's home.

The whole thing unfolded off of Bellemeade Drive in Marietta on Wednesday.

The family that lives in the home told Channel 2 Action News that the suspect, Taavon Johnson, trashed the house while inside.

Johnson claimed he had been beaten up and needed help, but the female homeowner, who asked not to be identified, didn't know the person who beat him up was the person who was fighting to get his car back.

SWAT officers take suspect into custody 

The suspect flashed a knife to get out of that fight and then ended up in the home.

It's still hard for the mother to think her home was at the center of a SWAT standoff.

Before police had the man in custody, the homeowner said Johnson put her family through a nightmare.

“It’s just sad for someone to do that to a woman and her two children,” the homeowner said.

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By the time she said Johnson knocked on her door, police say he had already tried to steal a utility truck and then fought with the truck's owner when the victim used a sledgehammer to get his truck back.

“That’s why I opened the door because he said somebody was jumping me and I’m having an asthma attack, but once I opened the door, that’s when he came on in,” the homeowner said.

Cobb County deputies were already in the area and saw the man go into the house so they told the woman to come out before she could get her two kids.

“I heard my 2-year-old crying and I was like, ‘Oh my God. I hope he's not doing anything to them,’” the woman said.

She said she's thankful an officer went to get her daughters before they could be hurt.

Marietta police said they were able to get Johnson to surrender peacefully.

The woman who lives at the house said she is less than a week away from moving and now has to clean up the mess Johnson left behind.

“He tore up the attic, he put holes in the ceiling and the closet, just a total wreck, for what reason I don’t know,” the woman said.

Police said the suspect already had multiple warrants out for his arrest prior to Wednesday’s incident, including drug and theft charges.