The man who initiated the chase that ended in Ahmaud Arbery's death rapidly changed his story to police on why he suspected Arbery was a criminal.
Glynn County police Officer Jeff Brandeberry, a patrol officer who interviewed Greg McMichael at the scene of the February 2020 shooting, told a jury Tuesday that McMichael at first told him Arbery had been caught on video "breaking in all these houses out here."
McMichael's account shifted when he spoke with a Glynn County detective at police headquarters late the same day. He then said Arbery had been recorded entering a single home still under construction a few times.
Detective Parker Marcy testified that Greg McMichael said he armed himself because he suspected Arbery may have stolen a handgun from his son's truck several weeks earlier, though he acknowledged he had no proof.
The detective said he asked whether the videos of Arbery inside the home under construction showed him picking up or taking anything.
“You know, not that I recall,” Greg McMichael answered, according to the interview transcript that the detective read in court. "I don’t think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there, or if he did it was early in the process. But he keeps going back over and over again to this damn house.”
McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. Neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan joined them and took cellphone video of Arbery being shot. All three men are charged with murder.
