Seven Peachtree City Sexual Battery Charges Preceded Senoia Arrest

Before Senoia Police arrested 30-year-old Fayetteville resident Isaiah Jamal Phillips in connection with an August 16 sexual assault, Peachtree City detectives had already investigated him over a series of alleged sexual batteries at local grocery and retail stores.

Fayette County court records show Phillips is facing seven misdemeanor sexual battery counts arising from incidents in April and June 2024. Fayette County Solicitor General Jamie Inagawa confirmed both cases have been arraigned and will be scheduled for trial in the coming months.

The first report came from Kroger

According to Peachtree City Police Lt. Brad Milstein, the investigation began April 11, 2024, at the Kroger on Crosstown Road.

A customer reported that a male subject had inappropriately touched her twice.

Then, on June 20, police began receiving reports of similar behavior at several Peachtree City stores.

Milstein described it as “a significant escalation of similar incidents.”

At the Walmart on West Highway 54, loss prevention personnel told police three female customers had separately reported being grabbed or touched on their buttocks by a Black male.

One woman was in the card aisle when she felt what was described to police as a light squeeze on her buttock.

Another woman, shopping in the art supplies section, reported feeling a hand on her shoulder before it moved to her buttock.

A third woman was in the seasonal section when she felt a hand on her buttock moving upward. According to Milstein, the movement suggested the person may have been attempting to remove her phone.

Descriptions varied somewhat between witnesses but consistently pointed investigators toward a young Black male, approximately 25 to 35 years old, wearing black clothing.

That same day, another customer at the Kroger on Crosstown Drive reported a Black male walking closely behind her in a way that made her concerned.

No physical contact was initially reported in that encounter, Milstein said, but investigators considered the behavior suspicious in light of the other reports.

Then the woman who had reported being touched at Kroger in April encountered the same male again — this time at the Publix on South Highway 74.

She recognized him.

Surveillance connects the incidents

Peachtree City detectives began examining whether the reports were connected.

Witness descriptions and surveillance footage from Walmart consistently showed a Black male in his 20s or 30s wearing black pants and a black shirt, often with white lettering, Milstein said.

A Walmart asset protection manager provided police with surveillance images of both the suspect and his vehicle.

The first vehicle image was not clear enough for investigators to make an identification.

Additional footage obtained June 21 changed that.

Detectives were able to determine the vehicle was a black Lexus passenger car.

They then turned to automatic license plate reader, or ALPR, data.

The vehicle appeared in the areas of both incident locations, according to Milstein.

Police traced the Lexus to its registered owner. Public information searches showed the registered owner was related to Phillips, whose age and appearance matched the man shown in the surveillance images and described by witnesses.

Peachtree City detectives also obtained records and body camera footage from a 2023 Roswell Police Department case involving Phillips.

Milstein said the Roswell incident was “VERY similar” to what Peachtree City investigators were seeing.

Based on the combined investigation, detectives obtained seven warrants charging Phillips with sexual battery.

Why Phillips was able to bond out

The number of allegations has raised another question: How could Phillips remain out of jail while multiple sexual battery cases were pending?

The answer lies in the level of the charges.

All of the criminal charges against Phillips before the Senoia case were misdemeanors. A judge who spoke with The Citizen said misdemeanor defendants must be given the opportunity to post bond rather than simply being held without bond while their cases await trial.

That changed with the Senoia arrest.

Senoia Police charged Phillips with battery, sexual battery, and false imprisonment. Capt. Jason Ercole said false imprisonment is a felony.

Police are also awaiting additional medical documentation concerning the victim’s injuries and could seek an aggravated battery charge, which Ercole said would add a second felony.

The felony charge gave the Senoia case a different bond posture than Phillips’ previous misdemeanor cases.

Two Fayette County cases remain pending

Court records reviewed by The Citizen show the seven Peachtree City charges are divided between two cases.

Two sexual battery counts stem from alleged offenses on April 11, 2024, and five additional counts stem from alleged offenses on June 20, 2024.

Inagawa confirmed that the Fayette County Solicitor General’s Office is handling both prosecutions.

“The cases have been arraigned and will be scheduled for trial in the coming months,” Inagawa said. “Because these matters are pending, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.”

Judge Jason Thompson will preside over the Fayette County cases.

Phillips told Ercole after his Senoia arrest that he was on probation for the Peachtree City charges. The Fayette County records reviewed by The Citizen, however, show the two sexual battery cases remain pending rather than disposed.

Records do show Phillips previously served probation in an unrelated 2022 misdemeanor marijuana case. That case ended with a successful termination of probation.

Fayette County records also show that in July 2024, a woman sought a protective order alleging that Phillips had stalked her. The court granted a 12-month stalking protective order.

A new case in Senoia

Phillips is now being held in Coweta County following his arrest in the Senoia case.

Senoia Police charged him after a woman was attacked while walking near Travis Street shortly after 10 p.m. August 16.

Ercole said the attacker grabbed the woman from behind, threw her to the ground, covered her mouth, and put a hand down the front of her pants.

The victim managed to pull his hand away from her mouth and scream. The attacker fled.

Because the area was so dark, she never saw his face.

Senoia investigators eventually identified Phillips through surveillance footage, vehicle information, and other investigative work. Once the department regained access to cameras that had temporarily been unavailable, officers said they could see the same man following the woman through downtown before the attack.

“That’s when we find the same person stalking our victim, camera angle, camera angle,” Ercole said. “Her walking and him behind her. Her walking and him behind her. It’s very scary to watch.”

Asked whether he viewed the alleged behavior as escalating, Ercole said, “Yeah, very much so.”

How Fayette can still bring him to trial

Phillips’ current incarceration in Coweta County does not necessarily prevent the Fayette cases from moving forward.

Asked generally what happens when a defendant awaiting trial in Fayette County is being held without bond in another county, Inagawa said prosecutors can seek a court production order.

“We would request a (CPO) court production order so he can be transported to our jail to await trial,” Inagawa said.