Former Smyrna Mayor involved in altercation at grocery store

Former Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon was involved in an altercation outside a grocery store Monday night. According to a Cobb County Police Department report, Bacon, 73, was accused in the report by store employees of making lewd comments to a 16-year-old female cashier at Food Depot, located at the corner of South Cobb Drive and Concord Road. Bacon, who served as Mayor for 34 years submitted to a voluntary breathalyzer test. It is reported that Bacon blew a blood alcohol concentration of 0.104, above the legal driving limit of 0.08. No arrests were made in the incident. 

The incident was reported to authorities at about 9:15 p.m. Conflicting accounts from Bacon and store employees were provided to police. Employees told police that they confronted Bacon in the parking lot about his comments toward the young cashier, telling him to leave and never come back. An argument ensued, they say, in which Bacon allegedly cursed at, spit at, and shoved Oscar Castro, an assistant manager.

Bacon told police that he simply bought several items, checked out, and left the store. He said he was approached by a male employee (Castro) in the parking lot who shoved him to the ground (Castro admitted to pushing Bacon after Bacon pushed him first. When questioned by Police, Bacon couldn’t recall who checked him out and denied speaking to anyone in the store.

An off-duty officer, who was working as a security guard at the store, confirmed to the Cobb police officer investigating the incident that he saw Bacon speaking to the cashier. The cashier later ran out of the store, and a coworker finished checking out Bacon, the security guard told investigators. The coworker who finished checking Bacon out later told police that the underage cashier was “shaking” when she came to request her help. 

The incident was initially responded to by the Smyrna Police Department, but after  Bacon was involved, they requested Cobb Police investigate the incident. The officer’s report said, “With the totality of the circumstances including all of the witness’s statements, I determined that due to the close relationships of all external parties involved … that a true unbiased story could not be determined with the present facts.” 

The parties involved were given case sheets and advised on procedures for seeking arrest warrants if anyone decided to press charges. The cashier went home with her mother, and Bacon was transported from the scene by his lawyer, the officer wrote.

Bacon has been involved in the Smyrna government since 1979 when he was elected as a Smyrna councilman. He took over as mayor in 1985, the year his father, Mayor Arthur Bacon, died in office, and served through 2019. Current Mayor Derek Norton was elected in 2020.