Police: Man attacked woman with wooden plank

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An Atlanta man is behind bars after attacking a woman just feet from the Marietta Square.

Police said 19-year-old Carlos Ezzard used a wooden plank full of nails to attack a 28-year-old woman who works in the area.

Good Samaritans Nicole Frick and Alexis Lippelt said they noticed the suspect because the plank was so unusual.

"I looked over and I was like ‘Oh, my god, what is he holding,' because it was a big plank. You don't just randomly walk around holding a plank, that is not usual," Alexis Frick exclaimed.

"It was like a normal plank, then it like had a sharper edge... kind of went in. Then it had scattered nails maybe like three on each side," witness Nicole Lippelt recalled.

Alexis and Nicole said about an hour after seeing Ezzard, they noticed a woman in distress on Atlanta Street right in front of the Blue Mist cafe bar.

"We saw the girl, she was running down the street yelling rape," Nicole remembered.

The women went over to comfort the victim and the 28-year-old woman told them what she said this stranger did to her just as she got in her car.

"He apparently choked her. He was making noises when he was doing it. Then she started beeping her horn to draw attention and he hit her in the head. She was bleeding behind the ear," Nicole reported.

Once Marietta officers arrived, they began looking for Ezzard. It was good Samaritans Nicole and Alexis who identified the assault suspect and help police tracked him down quickly. They explain why they got involved.

"They had to chase him down because he ran away toward the train tracks. It was freaky. It was also new for us to be in the police car helping them find someone," Nicole added. But the two women said they would do the same thing if it happened again.

"I wouldn't want to be left alone. Being a girl, that's scary," Alexis concluded.