Cab Fare Leads to SWAT Situation

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - A Cherokee County couple upset over a cab fare held lawmen at bay for hours overnight.

Investigators said the two didn't want to pay for the ride once they got home and that led to gunfire and a SWAT team storming the home.

Deputies said the cabbie got a lot more than he bargained for when he picked up the couple who now sit in the Cherokee County Jail facing charges.

"There was an altercation over cab fare," said Lt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County's Sheriff's Department.

The 35-40 dollar cab bill led to an overnight swat standoff in cherokee county.

Deputies said a couple hailed a Victory cab at a bar in Acworth around 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The driver took the couple to a home on Seminole Way off of Highway 92.

Deputies said an argument ensued and the male suspect left the cab, went into the home and allegedly got a rifle. He came back outside and fired a round into the air, pointed the rifle at the cab driver and told him to leave. The cab driver did.

The cabbie called 911.

When deputies arrived they couldn't contact the couple.

Neighboring homes were evacuated and the SWAT team called in.

After a negotiator couldn't get the couple to come out, the SWAT team fired canisters of pepper spray into the home.

Police entered the home and apprehended the couple.

The suspects have been identified as Michael Famiglietti and Ashley Carswell. Both face charges stemming from the stand off.

No one was hurt in either the standoff or the storming of the home which took place around 1 a.m.