PORTERDALE, Ga. — The owner of a popular metro Atlanta restaurant has been arrested twice in four days.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims learned that Julie Freeman, the owner of the Yellow River Ale House in Porterdale, is charged with failing to pay her employees. She is also accused in federal bankruptcy court of embezzling more than $5 million.
Freeman, 44, faces charges of theft of services after allegedly not paying four employees at her restaurant.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Her first arrest occurred during a traffic stop on Sept. 25, when she was pulled over for driving with a suspended registration.
“Did you know you have a warrant for your arrest?” an officer can be heard asking Freeman in body camera video.
She was arrested and released on bond.
But on Sept. 29, Freeman went to the police department to pick up her belongings. That’s when they told her she had another warrant for her arrest.
“Why didn’t you guys do them all at once?” Freeman asked officers.
“Because people keep coming forward,” the officer replied.
Four arrest warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News accuse her of failing to pay employees. Those warrants are dated between June to last week.
TRENDING STORIES:
- ‘It’s a baby’: Video of noisy child, customers arguing at north GA restaurant stirs up debate
- New $200+ million theme park planned in metro Atlanta; neighbors not amused
- GA woman dumps hot grease on someone at fish fry she wasn’t invited to, police say
Mims went to her Covington home on Friday, but a woman waved him away.
Her arrests come as she is accused of defrauding Nevada-based company CPI Management Group out of more than $5.5 million while she served as chief financial officer.
CPI claims that Freeman improperly paid herself more than 150 times over two-and-a-half years and created false financial statements.
She does not face criminal charges in that case.
In July, a coffee shop Freeman ran in Covington closed. Court documents say she faced eviction for failure to pay rent.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
