ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A set of viral videos showing several people in the back of a rental truck on the interstate was not a human trafficking case as widely believed, according to Gwinnett County police.
In the first video posted to several social media platforms, the people can be seen on top of what appears to be a mattress in the back of a partially unshuttered Budget truck. The person who took the video said he believed they were tied up and would keep following the truck until law enforcement arrived.
“These people is down here in Atlanta being trafficked in the back of a Budget truck,” he said. “They need some help.”
Another video taken later shows police surrounding the truck, which had been pulled over and fully opened. But the people in the back weren’t human trafficking victims, according to police.
Officers said they stopped the vehicle last Friday on I-85 N near Sugarloaf Parkway. Two families were inside the truck, including six adults and two children.
The people were healthy and not tied up or distressed, police said. They told officers they were traveling from Alabama to Maryland for a new job. The truck also contained their personal belongings.
The truck’s driver was cited for letting the families ride in the back without a seatbelt, according to police. The families were then dropped off at a local business and told to find another way to Maryland.
“There is no evidence at this time of human trafficking,” police said.
Atlanta is, however, a human trafficking hotspot. It’s among the top 14 cities with “abnormally high rates” of human trafficking, according to the FBI.
Commemorate a cherished Veteran with a special tribute of Taps at the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.
I was the chief of Anesthesia at Mesquite Community Hospital from 1978-2003.
This story has been updated.
ATLANTA — Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson announced Thursday that the state’s unemployment rate in August rose to 3.6%.
Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News.
ATLANTA — A person has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death in Atlanta on Monday, police said.
Stats
Elapsed time: 0.4408 seconds
Memory useage: 2.5MB
V2.geronimo