ATLANTA (News Nation) — Bond has been set at $500,000 for a former Atlanta police officer who is charged with shooting and killing a Black man.
Garret Rolfe, 27, is charged with felony murder and 10 other offenses in the June 12 shooting of Rayshard Brooks at a Wendy’s parking lot in south Atlanta. The incident, caught on surveillance and cellphone video, was viewed thousands of times on social media.
Brooks was killed after Rolfe and another officer found him sleeping in his car in the Wendy’s drive-thru. He failed a sobriety test, took the Taser of one of the officers, and ran, officials said. Rolfe fired three shots at Brooks, and two hit him in the back, killing him.
“(Rolfe) is not a flight risk and I do not believe he is a danger to the community,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick said.
Noah Pines, one of Rolfe’s lawyers, said Rolfe has close ties to the community and is not a flight risk.
Assistant District Attorney for Fulton County Clint Rucker asked Barwick to deny bond. He argued that because Rolfe does not own property in Georgia, is unemployed, and hasn’t offered up his passport, he is a flight risk.
Brooks’ wife, Tomika Miller, also asked the judge not to grant bond for Rolfe.
“I say no to it,” she said. “I say no because, mentally, I’m not able to handle it.”
The bond has several conditions. Rolfe will have to wear an ankle monitor, surrender his passport and follow a curfew. He has also been ordered not to use or carry any firearms or contact any witnesses or Atlanta police officers.
Devin Brosnan, the other officer involved in the shooting, is out on a $50,000 bond.