A Senoia man has been arrested and charged with aggravated stalking for allegedly following his ex-wife in violation of a protection order, police said.
Greg Crook, 45, contends that he did not violate the order because he was at Riley Field in south Peachtree City legally to pick up his daughter, whom he has custody of, from cheerleading practice.
Peachtree City police arrested Crook in Senoia in the early morning hours of Aug. 19, charging him with violating a family violence protective order by following ex-wife Janet Bell Crook at a city park after 7 p.m. Aug. 18, according to the warrant for his arrest.
Crook contends that he never even saw his ex-wife at Riley Field, much less “followed” her there. He also said that he waited until the end of the cheerleading practice to come pick up his daughter.
This is the latest dispute between the former couple. Their contentious divorce case was settled in May after it dragged on for three years, sealing its place in Fayette County history as one of the longest-running divorce cases on record.
The case became of significant public interest in April 2010 as part of a behind the scenes controversy within the local legal system that led to the resignation of two long-time Superior Court judges: Paschal A. English Jr. and Johnnie Caldwell Jr.
Prior to Crook’s arrest last week, the former Mrs. Crook filed paperwork seeking an arrest warrant against him based on a claim that he injured her, but the request was turned down by a Fayette County magistrate.
Six days following Crook’s arrest, the ex-wife filed a second request for an arrest warrant, claiming that Crook injured her finger while they were at her residence on Mickleton Lane July 26. The arrest warrant application claims that she has been “ordered to hand therapy two to three times per week to regain total use of my right hand.”
The second request is still pending in court.
The acrimonious divorce case was punctuated by a total of 15 contempt motions filed by both parties on various issues from halted insurance payments to alleged child custody violations and other financial disputes. Ms. Crook filed nine of the contempt motions, while Mr. Crook filed three contempt motions against her and three others against her insurance company in a dispute over documents during discovery in the case.
Ms. Crook was represented by a total of seven different attorneys over the course of the litigation.
The parties reached a post-divorce property settlement in the case shortly after a jury was picked to hear the case in late May. The settlement was approved by specially-appointed Superior Court Judge Thomas H. Wilson.
The Crooks were married in 1989 and separated in April 2008, according to court documents.
