Published:Aug. 31, 2021 at 11:53 PM EDT
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A drive turns into a matter of life and death for one couple.
Derick Green and his pregnant girlfriend Savannah Dodson were held at gunpoint by a driver who trapped them on a private road with no way out.
69-year-old Charles Thomas Berry is being charged with pointing a gun at another person, false imprisonment, DUI-Less Safe, simple assault, and possession of a firearm in commission of a crime.
Green and Dodson told WTOC they wanted to share their story because they do not want this to happen to anyone else.
Green says Dodson has nightmares about this experience. He is also reaching out to therapists trying to deal with what happened to them.
“I do not want to be the next Ahmaud Arbery,” said Chatham County resident Derick Green. “I have a family. I have a two-year-old. I have a child on the way.”
Green says he was afraid of losing his life after being held at gunpoint on Fort Argyle Lane on August 26th.
" I did not know what to do,” said Green. “I felt like it was either defend myself and spend my life in prison or I was not going to make it out that situation.”
A report from the Chatham County Police Department says Charles Berry claims he saw Green speeding on “private property.”
Berry told police he was the president of the private community there.
He says he confronted Green and his girlfriend to find out why they were there because he did not recognize them or their vehicle.
“I responded and I told him, I just dropped somebody off at home, I am on my way out of the neighborhood,” said Green.
Green told WTOC he was dropping off his girlfriend’s brother.
As Green tried to leave the area, Berry blocked him in. Green says that is when he called the police.
" At one point, I was on the phone with the dispatchers trying to give them the location and he came back towards my vehicle,” said Green. “I had my firearm on me and I chambered a round. I did not know what he was doing. I did not know why he was not letting me go.”
After letting another vehicle pass his truck, the report says that is when Berry took out his gun and pointed it at Green.
“I just -I don’t know froze. I’m freezing now it was just - Are you serious? Did he really just show his firearm and point out him and tell us that we are not going anywhere?”
That’s when Dodson began recording.
Police arrived minutes later.
The report says Berry denied confronting Green with a gun. While speaking with Berry the officer could smell alcohol. It states he leaned against his vehicle to keep his balance. Berry was arrested. However, Green says Berry has been released from the Chatham County Jail.
“I would like to see him do time,” said Green. “I know it sounds bad but he put himself in that situation and he should have to face the full consequences of it just like I would have to face the full consequences of it. It is not fair that I get nervous and I am paranoid nowadays. It is not fair that I need to go and seek counseling. It is not okay what you have done and it needs to be shown that it is not okay so maybe somebody else would not do it.”
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