The former Army Ranger cozied up to leisurely Braselton life two years ago. Now, as assistant chief of Braselton police, he gets his action in the occasional bank robbery - or when cows venture onto Interstate 85 - and his intel down at the cigar shop.
On the nickname "Sweet Lou:" It's kind of stupid, but the guys I play basketball with call me that. I didn't play in high school, but I play Saturdays and Sundays down at Dacula (High School). The nickname comes from my jump shot.
On his years with the Marietta police SWAT Team: I remember one time we hit a house. After you hit the house, you know, you mingle. All of a sudden, we're in a drug zone and this car comes pulling up, and we're telling the guy, 'Hey, stop,' but he blows right by us. He was drunk with drugs on him. I'm like, 'Dude, you didn't see all the blue lights, you didn't see all the cops?'
On the genesis of military life: My dad was a police officer. I wanted to be a police officer. Right out of high school, my dad's like, 'No, no, no, you don't want to be a police officer. You want to get some college. To grow up.' A year out of high school I was an assistant manager at a music store. It was kind of boring. I became a Ranger, and all of a sudden it was the life.
On dangerous, exotic Special Ops missions: Baghdad, of course, it's an ongoing thing with IEDs. Matter of fact, our group lost the lead vehicle. Three guys died instantly. Another guy died an hour later. A lot of people wonder if it's worth it. I don't get involved in politics. My job is to get you from point A to B. What you do when you get there - hopefully you're doing something good for the country, for the mission.
On surviving an Air Force jet crash-landing: The co-pilot passed out, electrical fire, black smoke. The first thing that came to mind was that movie with Charlton Heston where you see the fog coming in. It's toxic. I took off my headset, said, 'Hey, I'm jumping out.' We finally got on the ground, and the mission continued. Another day in the life of Special Ops.
On keeping a helicopter crash on the down low: We had a barbecue at my house. My wife (Kathy) came up to me, 'I heard y'all got in a helicopter crash. Why didn't you tell me?' I said, 'I lived - why tell you? Why bother you?'
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Please log in, or sign up for a new, free account to read or post comments.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.