An Atlanta police officer was arrested Wednesday after fatally shooting a Lyft driver and crawling out of the vehicle through the window in Union City, according to arrest warrants.
Koby Minor, who was hired in July 2018, resigned from the department after being arrested, authorities confirmed. He has since been booked into the Fulton County Jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault, records show.
At the time of Minor’s arrest, police said he was on unpaid administrative leave due to being arrested in Milton on Dec. 25 on charges of possession of a controlled substance and drugs not in an original container. According to his arrest warrant, Minor was involved in a single-vehicle crash while “impaired,” and 20 Xanax pills were found in his possession. His department-issued firearm was confiscated and had been in police custody since the Christmas Day arrest, authorities said.
Wednesday’s shooting happened on South Fulton Parkway near Stonewall Tell Road in Union City around 12:30 a.m. The victim was identified as 35-year-old Reginald Folks in an incident report.
After Minor was placed into handcuffs, he told police he was leaving another Atlanta police officer’s house and had ordered a Lyft. As Folks drove east on South Fulton Parkway, Minor said the driver began speaking on the phone with someone in a different language. At some point, he said he heard “what he thought was another voice in his ear talking to him,” but he couldn’t make out what was being said, his arrest warrants detail.
He then said he asked Folks to stop the car so he could get out, but he said the driver did not stop, the warrants say. At a red light, Minor told police he attempted to open his door but was unable. He then said he saw Folks turn around and try to reach into the back seat, according to the warrants.
Atlanta Police Department
Atlanta Police Department
Minor told police he reached for his firearm and shot Folks about three times, the warrants state. He then broke the car’s window and got out.
A driver who was in the area saw Minor waving his hand for help and stopped nearby, the witness told police. The witness said Minor told him Folks “is in a gay fraternity and was trying to recruit Minor into it and (he) believed he was getting kidnapped,” according to the warrants.
A Lyft spokesperson said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the company has “permanently banned” the rider’s account from their platform.
“Our hearts are with Mr. Folks’ loved ones as they confront this unspeakable tragedy, and we have reached out to offer our support during this difficult time,” the spokesperson added.
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