Columbia County arrest caught on camera in West Lake

MARTINZEZ, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A manhunt in Martinez that started on Saturday has finally come to an end Sunday afternoon.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office has now taken 42-year-old wanted suspect Richard Dahlheimer into custody after cornering him in the West Lake neighborhood.

Jeff Carney has been living in the neighborhood for 25 years and says Saturday was certainly unusual.

“I saw him at like 8:30 this morning,” he said. “This has been going on all day.”

Carney walked over to a deputy on post just down the block from his house when he saw someone looking over their shoulder, and go into his neighbor’s yard.

“Our neighbors aren’t home, so if that’s a house sitter they’re not going to be doing that. They’re going to be going in the front door, not the back,” he said.

In footage captured by James Oester, who happened to be at his friend’s house across the street from the arrest at the time, we can see authorities taking Dahlheimer out. They used tear gas to smoke him out from under the neighbor’s house.

“When they say heavy police presence they meant it. From the helicopters above, to deputies at intersections. They discouraged us from walking out, from walking dogs. We were just staying inside and sort of keeping our eyes open, and let the police know,” said Carney.

He says while he wasn’t present for the arrest, captured on camera by neighbor TJ Lucero, Carney is glad his neighborhood is safe again, “My boys grew up there and it’s just the kind of place, it’s a great place to live, it’s a great community. And we feel totally secure there. And I just want to give a shoutout to our sheriff’s department because it was a heavy police presence all night long.”

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.