It started with a foot through a kitchen window at a home outside Stone Mountain, at about 4 a.m. on April 22.
Apparently, unlike subsequent cases, police said, Griffin knew the woman who lived in the home. He knew her well enough, according to the warrants, that she had recently applied for a protective order to keep him away. The order had not yet been served.
Police allege Griffin pulled a handgun on the woman, raped her, demanded money and then took a phone from her when she tried to dial 911.
DeKalb County police got a warrant for his arrest within 12 hours. But he couldn’t be found. Griffin allegedly called the victim repeatedly and left a message threatening to kill her if she didn’t call back.
On the afternoon of May 11, two women told Clarkston police that a strange man had asked if they needed work done at their Market Street home. They had said no, and the man had left.
Police, who later said the man was Griffin, believe he broke into the home after the women left, and he waited for them with a metal pipe.
The warrants say that, when one woman later walked in and found him in the home, he threatened to kill her if she tried to leave.
He allegedly sexually assaulted her, and when her partner came in, he hit her in the head with the pipe. One woman was left with a broken wrist.
After the man left, police collected DNA evidence and sent it to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to determine the man’s identity.
Investigators released a sketch to the public to see if anyone recognized him.
On May 19, police said, Griffin broke into a Stone Mountain home, beat a resident and spray-painted the victim’s face.
It wasn’t until June 22 that Clarkston police announced that, through DNA, they’d identified Griffin as the same man wanted in all three cases. Griffin, it turns out, has been in and out of Georgia prisons three times, mostly for robberies in Chatham County.
He had been out of prison since 2012.
He was arrested over the weekend after a tipster called 911 to tell authorities where he was.
On Monday, he was in court for his first appearance when the judge told him to stand, WSB reported.
He tried to rise, slumped and then hit the floor. It isn’t clear why he was suddenly so weak.
Jail records show he remained held Tuesday.
About the Author