Felon Wanted for Aggravated Battery and Threats Arrested in Stephens County After Surveillance Operation

On September 5, 2024, at approximately 4:40 p.m., the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, Georgia State Patrol, the Department of Community Supervision, and other state and local agencies, apprehended and arrested Rocky Garrett, a wanted felon.

Earlier in the day, around noon, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office S.T.I.N.G. Unit were dispatched to a wooded area near Garrett’s last known residence on Old Jarrett Rd. Deputies established surveillance in the woods while an agent from the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office coordinated with Georgia State Patrol’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit to execute a search warrant on the house.

Agents placed controlled phone calls to Garrett’s landline, and deputies observed him walking from the woods toward his residence. The deputies surprised and apprehended Garrett without incident. Following his arrest, SWAT troopers were called off the search, and a parole officer, alongside deputies and agents, conducted a consensual search of Garrett’s home. No illegal items were found. Garrett was then transported to the Stephens County Jail.

Garrett, 54, of Toccoa, was arrested on a Felony Probation Violation in Stephens County. He also faces warrants from Franklin County for Aggravated Battery and Terroristic Threats and Acts. He remains in the Stephens County Jail without bond.

This large-scale operation was planned due to recent threats Garrett made against law enforcement officers, as well as previous encounters with Garrett in 2006 when he was arrested for Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer, Obstructing Law Enforcement Officers, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office expressed gratitude to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, Georgia Department of Public Safety, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Stephens County Fire Services, Stephens County EMS, Stephens County 911 & Emergency Management, and other agencies involved in the successful apprehension of Garrett.