Bath Salts Causes Duluth Man to Eat Own Feces

Gwinnett Police arrested Mathew Hammond, 21, who acted violently and apparently ate his own feces while allegedly under the influence of bath salts during an incident in Duluth, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Friday.

Police officers were called to a residence in the 2100 block of Worrall Hill Drive in unincorporated Duluth around 4 p.m. July 3 in response to a report from a woman who informed police that Hammond, her son, was "walking around out of his mind, armed with a knife," according to the police incident report cited in the AJC article. He apparently dropped the knife before police arrived.

Hammond reportedly ran toward the police car and chased after it when the officer pulled away. After the officer stopped the vehicle, Hammond pulled on the locked doors and banged on the windows and challenged the officer to a fight before being subdued, the AJC reported.

Hammond continued to act bizarrely after being arrested, according to the police report, and the officer smelled excrement on his breath and observed what appeared to be feces in his mouth and on his teeth, the newspaper article stated.

Initially taken to the Gwinnett County Jail, Hammond was then driven to a local hospital when it was determined he needed medical treatment. After being released from the hospital, he was taken back to the jail where he was being held on charges of felony obstruction of an officer and disorderly conduct charges, the AJC reported.

Hammond later admitted to officers that he had smoked marijuana, drank alcohol and snorted bath salts, according to the police report that served as a basis for the AJC article.

In June, Gwinnett police arrested a man reportedly running who resisted arrest despite being pepper sprayed and repeatedly tasered, according to police reports obtained by Patch. Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said that the suspect, Alpharetta resident Karl Laventure, believed he had smoked marijuana laced with bath salts.

Authorities via a personal recording device on a police officer.