Inside the Police Blotter: False Imprisonment, Drugs and Ex-Boyfriends

Two people have been arrested in connection to a strange Lilburn incident involving false imprisonment, drugs and ex-boyfriends.

According to the Lilburn Police report, a man called authorities to report that his girlfriend, Decatur resident Crystal Keeney, was being held against her will at a home in Lilburn. He told police that he hadn't heard from her in two days, and on the evening of Feb. 18, he started receiving text messages via her cell phone number from someone claiming to be her ex-boyfriend, Scott Stephens, of Lilburn.

The messages, which were explicit and used profanity, said that he knocked her out and beat her because she didn't choose him, according to the report.

"I'll kill her," said one message. "I hope [she] bleeds to death before I throw her ... out."

It was believed that she was being held at Stephens' house, located on the 400 block of Cole Road, but no one seemed to be home when police arrived.

Authorities then received another phone call by the complainant and his girlfriend. She said that she was no longer at the residence on Cole Drive, and her ex-boyfriend had taken her to an apartment in Stone Mountain. She said she was taken against her will and was afraid of leaving in fear of getting beaten. 

Because police couldn't actually identify the caller as Keeney, officers contacted the ex-boyfriend's father, the owner of the home, so that they could gain entry into the Lilburn home.

Once entering the home, police searched and called out to anyone who may be inside. "Crying and visibly upset," Keeney was found sitting on the floor of one of the bedrooms, according to the report. Stephens was found in the connecting bathroom.

While at the residence, Keeney told police that she had left for work the other day, saw a "friend" at a gas station and came to the Cole Road residence to retrieve her jacket from the friend. While there, her ex-boyfriend dragged her inside and knocked her out by hitting her on the back of the head. She told police she wasn't sure how long she'd been there, and that she hadn't eaten or drank anything for days.

Both Keeney and Stephens were transported to the Lilburn Police Department for further questioning. Officers continued to search the home and found green leafy material believed to be marijuana on the counter and three rocks of crack cocaine inside a purse, which Keeney claimed as her bag.

At the station, Stephens had to be transported to Gwinnett Medical Center after he complained of chest pains and numbness in his left arm. The doctors determined that he was not having a heart attack but instead was experiencing "extreme discomfort" due to alcohol withdrawal, according to the report.

He was hospitalized overnight, and Lilburn Police notified him in his hospital bed that he was being arrested and charged with marijuana possession (less than 1 oz.) and cocaine possession.

Officers determined that there was a lack of probable cause to pursue false imprisonment charges against him.

While Stephens was arrested two days after the incident, Keeney was arrested the same day on two charges of violating probating and one charge of cocaine possession, according to the Gwinnett County docket book. 

Inside the Police Blotter runs regularly every week. The information is based solely on police incident reports provided on request.