MARIETTA - Former Cobb EMC chief Dwight Brown was driving to the office of his lawyer on Thursday afternoon after learning he had been re-indicted when he was pulled over by Cobb Sheriff's deputies, handcuffed and taken to jail in the back of a deputy's vehicle.

Col. Milton Beck of the Cobb Sheriff's Office said a supervising deputy was on his way to Brown's house to serve the warrant after the indictment was handed up at about 4:30 p.m. in Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Flournoy's courtroom when the supervisor spotted a tan Ford F150 pickup truck being driven by Brown on Roswell Street near Fairground Street in Marietta.

"A traffic stop was initiated, and Brown was taken into custody at approximately 5:15 p.m.," Beck said. Brown's wrists were handcuffed in front of his body, Beck said, at the deputy's discretion considering Brown had no violent history and complied with the deputy's orders.

The supervisor turned Brown over to another deputy for transport to the jail, and a third deputy arrived to wait while Brown's truck was retrieved, which took about 10 minutes, Beck said.

Brown's lawyer, former Gov. Roy Barnes, is furious that his client was arrested and that the district attorney's office sought to have Brown held on a $100,000 bond. District Attorney Pat Head, though, said Brown has received no special treatment. Judge Flournoy rejected prosecutors' efforts to set the bond.

Barnes said that Brown was allowed to call his wife during the stop, which occurred near the National Cemetery, and that his wife called Barnes, who sent an associate to retrieve Brown's truck from the road. Barnes sent another associate to the jail to meet Brown, who was quickly released on a signature bond.

Brown then came back to Barnes' office and was "very upset," Barnes said.

"He said, 'I'm not going anywhere, why did they have to do this?'" Barnes said. "Dwight Brown has had a very distinguished business career, starting with Georgia Power. He does not believe, and neither do I, that he has committed a criminal act. He is befuddled and upset at the fact that this has come down and he's become a punching bag for everybody that's dissatisfied about everything."

Barnes said he believes that the district attorney's office notified the sheriff's office on Wednesday that an indictment could be forthcoming and that District Attorney Pat Head, or someone in his office, told deputies they wanted Brown arrested.

Head, though, said Brown was arrested on Thursday due to the four additional charges in the indictment. The new charges accuse Brown of threatening and intimidating witnesses by filing suit against some of the original EMC plaintiffs.

"Based on those charges, we decided to handle this case just like all the other cases are handled," Head said. "It is common practice for bench warrants to be issued ... and for the defendant in those cases to be handcuffed and taken to jail by the sheriff.

"I'm sorry that Mr. Barnes feels he and his client received special treatment," Head said. Still, "I'm not going to try this case in the press."

For his part, Sheriff Neil Warren said he did not talk to Head at all on Wednesday or Thursday and that he did not know an indictment was imminent.

Barnes also called Warren upon learning Brown had been arrested, Warren said.

"I called out to the jail and notified staff that Brown was on his way, and told them to process him as soon as possible. With any nonviolent offender, we try to get them in and out so as not to waste manpower," Warren said. "If Roy had called me earlier, we'd have been glad to let (Brown) turn himself in."

On the issue of bond, assistant district attorney John Butters sought to have Brown held on $100,000 bond with other conditions for his release. But Judge Flournoy, in hearing the indictment on Thursday afternoon, denied that request.

Barnes said the bid for bond against his client was "uncalled for."

"At least they should have had the courtesy to allow us to be heard on this matter," he said. "They knew that we've been in this case."

Again, Head said there was nothing special about the request, which was based on the additional charges.

"This too is commonplace," Head said. "However, the judge did deny our requests and allowed Mr. Brown to sign his own bond with no dollar amount, which is equivalent to not requiring a bond at all."

Brown was originally indicted in January on 31 felony charges, and it was Judge Flournoy who in March threw out that indictment on a technicality. That remains on appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Flournoy was appointed to the bench in 2000 by then-Gov. Barnes.

As with the first indictment, Barnes insists "there is no basis" for the newest charges.

"Everything that was done in that indictment followed good and approved business practices, and this indictment seeks to criminalize business practices," Barnes said. "What the motivation is for that, I will not speculate on. ... The district attorney has their job to do. I have my job to do. I'd remind everybody there's a lot else to be told in this case, not just the state's side and the headlines."

Countered Head: "Obviously a grand jury thought there was a basis for the indictment."

No arraignment date has been set.

As for having a deputy wait for Brown's truck to be retrieved, Warren said it's not unusual.

"They could have very easily towed the car, but I think Dwight asked if they wouldn't," Warren said. "I guess that's a little bit of compassion there, is all I can say, and I don't have an issue with that."