Arrested on misdemeanor, man now faces felony case over claimed false Ebola statements at jail
Arrested in Georgia a little over a week ago in a misdemeanor drunken-driving case, Harry Randall Withers is now facing multiple felony charges.
That’s because, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office says, he lied to a paramedic once he got to the county jail and said he had recently returned from a trip to Liberia, which is at the center of an African outbreak of Ebola. Further, Withers claimed he had symptoms suggesting he was infected with the often-deadly virus the sheriff’s office said. In fact, Withers—who also said he was in Nigeria, Brussels and Virginia during his recent trip—had not traveled outside the U.S. since 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
After isolating Withers, putting the jail on lockdown and temporarily refusing new inmates, testing at a local hospital, in which Withers was also isolated, confirmed he does not have the disease.
On Thursday, he was indicted on three counts of making false statements and is being held without bond.
An earlier WSB story provides additional details.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Officials not amused by airline passenger’s claimed Ebola joke, send hazmat team onto plane”
