Suspects arrested, treated for injuries following attempted break-ins; sheriff’s office not pursuing charges against homeowner ‘at this time’

Published 8:15 am Tuesday, May 6, 2025

A male suspect has been arrested and a female suspect is being treated at Hamilton Medical Center following attempted automobile and home break-ins on Saturday, May 3, said Whitfield County Sheriff Darren Pierce in a press release.

According to the release, “Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to an entering auto-in-progress call” from an individual living off of Pleasant Drive and Old Grade Road at approximately 5:15 a.m.

“Deputies arrived and spoke with the caller, who advised deputies that several subjects were breaking into his vehicle and attempting to open his back door,” the release states. “The homeowner exited the home firing multiple shots at the subjects.”

The male suspect, identified as Tristen Charles Knight, 21, of 1349 Norton Bridge Road in Chatsworth, was booked at the jail at approximately 11:48 p.m. that evening by the sheriff’s office and charged with entering an automobile with the intent to commit theft or felony.

According to the press release, a round from the homeowner’s firearm struck the female suspect, who was then “transported by medical personnel” to Hamilton Medical Center.

Detective Brandon Fincher, the sheriff’s office public information officer, said Monday the identity of the female suspect would not be released pending her medical treatment.

“At this time, those are the only two believed suspects,” Fincher said, stating charges for the female suspect are pending.

Fincher said the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office will not pursue charges against the homeowner, who was not named, “at this time.”

“The case is still active on the investigator’s dashboard, so we’re not able to release the homeowner’s name because he’s listed as the victim in this case and we can’t release victim information on active cases,” Fincher said.

Instead, the case “will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office pending their review,” the release states.

“The sheriff’s office chose not to charge the homeowner on our side, but we’re not the District Attorney’s Office, so we can’t make a decision for them,” Fincher said. “It would be up to them how they pursue or move forward with it.”

According to Fincher, the sheriff’s office and District Attorney’s Office operate as “two separate agencies, but also in tandem with one another.”

“The District Attorney’s Office is the body that prosecutes these cases, so they have their own independent means of indicting someone should they feel like the person needs to be indicted,” he said.

Fincher said there is no clear indication of the time frame of the District Attorney’s Office’s decision.

He said Pierce and the sheriff’s office fully support Georgia’s Stand Your Ground Law, which states “A person who uses threats or force in accordance with the use of force in defense of self or others, the use of force in defense of a habitation, or the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use force as provided in the code, including deadly force.”

“Sheriff Pierce fully stands by that statute because it’s Georgia law,” Fincher said. “He fully supports the Stand Your Ground Law and he also fully supports the (U.S.) Second Amendment (right to bear arms).”