Napoleon Curtis was just trying to get somewhere on a Saturday afternoon. The 37-year-old sat behind the wheel of his Ford Focus on westbound Highway 78 near the Stone Mountain Park exit. What started as a simple merge turned into the last moments of his life.
Sean Rucker, 54, drove a large box truck in the right lane. Curtis moved to get in front of him. Words flew between the two men. Their vehicles stayed side by side, the Focus in the left lane and the truck next to it.
Rucker fired multiple shots. The bullets tore through the roof of Curtis’ car. One hit him under the right armpit. Another struck his right leg. Curtis’ vehicle drifted off the roadway. When officers got there around 3:20 p.m., they found him dead inside from the gunshot wounds.
Police from DeKalb County, Gwinnett County and Stone Mountain all showed up. They worked the scene right at the county line. Rucker was located nearby and taken into custody.
Arrest warrants hit Rucker with felony murder and aggravated assault. He told investigators that Curtis had pointed a gun at him. But when they searched the Ford Focus, no firearm turned up at all.
Curtis never had a chance to defend himself. The warrants make it clear he was unarmed when the shots came through the roof. Traffic backed up for a long time as crews handled the investigation and the body.
This kind of sudden violence on a busy highway leaves families and drivers shaken. Curtis was 37. Rucker faces the full weight of the charges now.
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