By Mark Woolsey

Three teenagers are facing charges in connection with a brawl at an East Cobb Waffle House this past weekend.

Cobb Police say two of the suspects assaulted employees after the group was asked to leave the restaurant on Sandy Plains Road at about 2 a.m. Sunday, but refused. A third was charged with creating a disturbance there.

A 17-year-old suspect from Ball Ground was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, criminal trespass (damage), and affray. An 18-year-old from  Calhoun faces the same laundry list of charges. A 17-year-old from Roswell has been charged with disorderly conduct, but not in connection with any assaults.

The Ball Ground and Roswell suspects were taken into custody Sept. 11. The Calhoun teen remained on the loose as of Friday evening.

Police say after the trio was asked to depart, the situation escalated, with the suspects arguing with staff, knocking plates off a counter, and vaulting over a service area to access the kitchen. One victim was put in a headlock and punched multiple times as patrons tried to intervene to stop the brawl.

Various social media posts claimed that the perpetrators were students at nearby Sprayberry High School. Police now say there is no connection between the suspects and any of the schools in the Cobb County School District.

The Courier was unable to reach Waffle House corporate officials for comment on the arrests on Friday evening.

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a plea of guilty. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated. We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest.]