Atlanta

Man police say assaulted woman in courthouse bathroom caught possibly following GA State student

ATLANTA — A man who police say assaulted a woman inside a bathroom at the Fulton County courthouse has been arrested.

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Lester Walker was taken into custody Monday evening after a senior investigator with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office spotted Walker near the courthouse.

Channel 2′s Mark Winne talked to investigator DeJuan Walker, who said he’d just left his office around 6 p.m. when he spotted a man matching the attacker’s description on Pryor Street.

In the exclusive interview on Channel 2 Action News at 6 p.m., DeJuan Walker gave a blow-by-blow of how he and fellow officers were able to to catch the suspect.

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“As I’m headed home, I observe the suspect walking on Pryor Street. He matched the description,” DeJuan Walker said. “I looked at my phone, looked at the picture. I advised my chief deputy of what I had.”

DeJuan Walker said he got out of his car and followed Lester Walker on foot. When the suspect walked into a tunnel, DeJuan Walker flagged down a Georgia State University maintenance truck nearby and jumped in the truck.

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DeJuan Walker lost sight of the suspect, but on the street level above, Assistant Chief Investigator Thomas Ricks quickly spotted Lester Walker and picked him up.

Ricks said it appeared that Lester Walker was following a female Georgia State University student.

“I was observing the subject potentially lurking on another female in the area,” Ricks said. “Georgia State students were in the area, and there was the potential of another attack.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said that Lester Walker’s charges have been upgraded to aggravated assault for strangulation.

“We’re also going to look at kidnapping and false imprisonment charges,” Willis said.

A spokesman said that the office of the Fulton County Public Defender will represent Lester Walker on the charges.