Steven Andrew Holland
Dalton Police arrested a Chatsworth man late Saturday night after he pulled a gun and fired two shots into the air in the parking lot of Chili’s restaurant near College Drive.
The incident happened after a disagreement between two people inside the restaurant spilled into the parking lot and escalated into a fight. Police said 24-year-old Steven Andrew Holland of 312 Bowen Road in Chatsworth was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, reckless conduct, simple assault, and discharging a weapon on the property of another.
Officers were dispatched to the Chili’s restaurant at 881 Holiday Inn Dr. at approximately 11:10 p.m. on a report of shots being fired in the parking lot. After officers arrived, Holland surrendered without incident and was taken into investigative custody. Officers also stopped a gray SUV leaving the scene driven by his wife.
Holland told officers that there was a group of people inside the Chili’s who had been harassing his wife and some people followed them into the parking lot as they were trying to leave. Holland told officers that one member of that group hit him in the head and he was surrounded by four or five people as he tried to get into his SUV.
He told officers he pulled a 9 mm handgun from a holster in his jeans and fired two shots into the air. Other witnesses later disputed that story, telling investigating officers that Holland was the one who swung first before being punched and pulling out his gun.
Officers determined that the disagreement between the group was related to a fight that Holland’s wife, Celeste Holcomb, had with Megan Bowling at a football game in Murray County several years ago. Ms. Bowling and members of her group saw Ms. Holcomb and Holland at the restaurant, which led to the exchange of words and then later to the incident in the parking lot.