Georgia · Rincon, Effingham County · Fires & Rescues

Towne Park West Drive Apartment Fire and Baseball Bat Disturbance in Rincon, GA: Rincon Police Say Bryan Fox, 57, Was Tased and Taken Into Custody, Felony Charges Pending, Effingham County

The Rincon Police Department says it responded with Rincon Fire to a reported disturbance at 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100, in Rincon just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, and that officers found Bryan Fox, 57, causing damage to property, deployed a Taser and took him into custody. Police say vehicles and at least two apartment units were damaged with a baseball bat, that a small fire was started inside an apartment, and that no one was injured. Fox has not been charged; the department says numerous felony charges are pending.

By Nathan Saunders Published Aug. 19, 2026, 1:05 p.m. ET 7 min read Not charged · police say felony charges are pending

Key facts

What: A reported disturbance involving a person armed with a baseball bat, followed by property damage and a small fire inside an apartment, according to the Rincon Police Department
When: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, just before 9 a.m.
Where: 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100, Rincon, Effingham County, Georgia
Who: Bryan Fox, 57. He has not been charged
Charges: None filed. The department says the incident remains under investigation and that numerous felony charges are pending
Responding: The Rincon Police Department and Rincon Fire
Force used: Police say officers deployed a Taser and took the individual into custody
Injuries: None reported, the department says, despite the property damage
Damage: Police say a baseball bat was used on numerous vehicles and on at least two apartment units in the area. No count of vehicles has been released
Assault: The department says an employee was assaulted before the individual was taken into custody. The employee is not identified and their condition is not given
Fire: Police say a small fire was started inside the apartment and was contained, and that additional action taken to cause a small explosion was unsuccessful
Hospital: The release says Fox was transported to Effingham Hospital to be evaluated
Complex name: Not released. Both accounts give only the street address
Sources: Two, and not independent: the Rincon Police Department’s own release and a WTOC account written from it

What’s in this report

What happened at 617 Towne Park West Drive in Rincon, GA?
Has Bryan Fox been charged with anything?
What do police say about the fire and the explosion attempt?
Who was hurt, and what was damaged?
What did Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell say?
How does the morning read, step by step?
Where is Bryan Fox now?
Where is the police account unclear?
Who has reported this?
What is not known yet?
What else are people asking about the Towne Park West Drive incident?

What happened at 617 Towne Park West Drive in Rincon, GA?

The account below is the Rincon Police Department’s. It comes from a release the City of Rincon published on its own website, and every line of it is the department speaking.

Police say the department and Rincon Fire were sent to a reported disturbance just before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. The call, the department says, involved a person who was armed with a baseball bat and who was experiencing what the release calls an apparent behavioral or mental health crisis. That description is the Rincon Police Department’s own characterization, it is the only such reference either account contains, and nothing further about it has been released.

Officers went to 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100. That address is all that has been made public about the location. Neither the release nor WTOC’s account of it names an apartment complex, and this report does not name one either.

There, the department says, officers came upon Bryan Fox, 57, who it says was actively causing damage to property. Officers engaged him, a Taser was deployed, and he was taken into custody, according to the release. WTOC, working from that release, puts it more plainly still: “Officers said they tased Fox and took him into custody.”

Has Bryan Fox been charged with anything?

No, and this is the single most important line in the story.

The Rincon Police Department says the incident remains under investigation and that numerous felony charges are pending. Pending is not filed. No charge has been named, no charging document has been released, no court date has been announced, and no court has heard any of this.

Everything set out in this report is an allegation made by a police department in a press release about a man who has not been charged. It is written that way deliberately, and where a sentence says police say, that is the whole of the support behind it.

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What do police say about the fire and the explosion attempt?

The release says that during the incident a small fire was started inside the apartment, and that additional action was taken to cause a small explosion, which was unsuccessful. Those are the department’s words for it, and they are the outer edge of what has been released.

What the department does not say is what was burning, how the fire started, or what the additional action consisted of. There is no description of a device, no description of a method, and no statement that anything exploded. The release says the attempt did not succeed.

WTOC condenses the same sentence to say police reported Fox tried to cause an explosion. That is a reasonable reading of the release, but it is WTOC’s reading and not a separate statement from police, and the difference is worth keeping straight.

Both accounts agree on the outcome: the fire was contained. The release adds that the scene was secured so that there was no continuing threat to residents or to responding personnel.

Who was hurt, and what was damaged?

No injuries were reported. Both the release and WTOC say so flatly, and the release adds that this held despite the property damage and what it describes as potentially dangerous circumstances.

The department also says that before the individual was taken into custody, an employee was assaulted. It does not say who that employee is, who employs them, where the assault happened or how they are. No source we have identifies them, and this report does not attempt to.

On property, the release says a baseball bat was used on numerous vehicles and on at least two apartment units in the area. Numerous is the department’s word; no vehicle count has been released, and the two units are not identified. Separately, the release places the small fire inside the apartment.

What did Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell say?

Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell is quoted in the department’s release, and WTOC carries the same quotation:

“This was a rapidly evolving and potentially dangerous situation for our officers, residents, and everyone in the surrounding area. Our officers arrived within minutes, immediately engaged the individual, and were able to bring the situation under control, while avoiding what could have been a lethal force situation. We are thankful no one was injured.”

That is the only statement from any official in either account. No other Rincon Police Department employee is named, and no Rincon Fire official is quoted.

How does the morning read, step by step?

The incident as the Rincon Police Department describes it
Stage	What the department says
Just before 9 a.m., Wed., Aug. 19, 2026	A reported disturbance comes in involving a person armed with a baseball bat. The Rincon Police Department and Rincon Fire respond.
Arrival	Officers go to 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100. Chief Murrell says officers arrived within minutes.
Before custody	An employee is assaulted, and a baseball bat is used on numerous vehicles and on at least two apartment units in the area.
During the incident	A small fire is started inside the apartment, and additional action is taken to cause a small explosion, which is unsuccessful.
Custody	Officers encounter Bryan Fox, 57, causing damage to property, engage him, deploy a Taser and take him into custody.
After	The fire is contained and the scene is secured. No injuries are reported. Fox is transported to Effingham Hospital to be evaluated.
Status	The incident remains under investigation. Numerous felony charges are pending. Fox has not been charged.

Attention: the release does not give clock times for anything after the initial call, and the order of the middle stages above follows the order of the release’s own paragraphs rather than a stated sequence.

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Where is Bryan Fox now?

The release ends with a single line: Fox was transported to Effingham Hospital to be evaluated. WTOC says he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated and does not name it, so the name of the hospital comes from the department and from the department only.

Neither account says whether he is still there, whether he has since been released into custody, where he would be held, or whether he has a lawyer. The release says he was taken into custody and also says he was transported to a hospital; it does not reconcile the two, and no booking record has been released.

Where is the police account unclear?

In several places, and the honest thing is to name them rather than to tidy them up.

Three sentences in the release are grammatically incomplete. One begins “Within minutes of receiving the call and encountered 57-year-old Bryan FOX actively causing damage to property,” which never states who arrived within minutes or what the sentence is about. Another reads “Officers engaged the suspect deployed a Taser, and were able to safely take the individual into custody,” which does not say in plain terms who deployed the Taser or on whom. A third reads “the suspect assaulted an employee, and using a baseball bat to damage numerous vehicles and at least two apartment units in the area.”

WTOC resolves all three into clean assertions: that officers arrived and found Fox, that officers tased him, and that he used a bat to damage the vehicles and units. Those readings are almost certainly what the department meant. They are still WTOC’s readings of a broken sentence, not the department’s finished sentences, and this report attributes them accordingly.

One more: the release refers to the apartment where the fire started as his apartment, which would place Fox as a resident at that address. Neither account says how long, whether he was a leaseholder, or whether the two units damaged with the bat include it.

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Who has reported this?

Two accounts, and they are not two independent ones.

The Rincon Police Department release, posted on the City of Rincon website, is the primary agency source. Every fact in this story originates there, including the address, the age, the name, the Taser, the fire, the explosion attempt, Chief Murrell’s quotation, the pending felony charges and Effingham Hospital.

WTOC (Gray Television) is the second account, and it is essentially a newsroom rewrite of that release: the same facts, the same quotation, the same address, with the grammar repaired and the hospital left unnamed. It adds no reporting of its own that we can identify, and it does not name a source other than the Rincon Police Department.

So the corroboration here is thin by design. This is one agency’s account of an incident its own officers handled, plus one newsroom’s retelling of that account. Nothing in this report has been confirmed by a second, independent party.

What is not known yet?

What the pending felony charges will be. The department says numerous felony charges are pending and names none of them. No charge has been filed, and no charging document has been released.
How many vehicles were damaged. The release says numerous vehicles. There is no count, no description and no statement of whose they were.
Which two apartment units were damaged, and whether anyone was displaced. The release says at least two units in the area. It does not identify them and says nothing about residents being put out of their homes.
Who the assaulted employee is and what their condition is. No source names them, says who employs them, or says whether they were hurt. The release says no injuries were reported.
Whether residents were evacuated. The release says the scene was secured so there was no continuing threat to residents or responding personnel. It does not say whether anyone was moved out of a building.
What started the small fire, and what the additional action was. The release says additional action was taken to cause a small explosion and that it was unsuccessful, and explains neither the fire nor the action.
Whether Fox is still at Effingham Hospital. The release says he was transported there to be evaluated. Nothing has been released about whether he has since been discharged, released to custody or booked anywhere.
Whether Fox has a lawyer. No defense lawyer has been named, and no court appearance has been announced.
The case number. No incident or case number appears in either account.
The name of the apartment complex. Only the street address has been released, and no source names a complex.

What else are people asking about the Towne Park West Drive incident?

What happened on Towne Park West Drive in Rincon, GA?
The Rincon Police Department says officers and Rincon Fire responded to a reported disturbance at 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100, just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. The department says the call involved a person armed with a baseball bat, that officers found 57-year-old Bryan Fox causing damage to property, and that a Taser was deployed before he was taken into custody. Police say no one was injured. Fox has not been charged; the department says numerous felony charges are pending.

Has Bryan Fox been charged?
No. The Rincon Police Department says the incident remains under investigation and that numerous felony charges are pending. Pending is not charged: no charge has been filed or announced, no charge has been named, and no court has heard the case. Everything described in this report is the police account of what happened.

Was anyone injured on Towne Park West Drive in Rincon?
The Rincon Police Department says no injuries were reported. The department also says an employee was assaulted before Fox was taken into custody. It does not identify that employee, does not say who employs them and does not describe their condition. WTOC, working from the same release, reports the same two things.

What was damaged in the Rincon incident?
The Rincon Police Department says a baseball bat was used on numerous vehicles and on at least two apartment units in the area. The department does not give a number of vehicles, does not identify the units and does not say whether anyone was displaced. It also says Fox started a small fire inside his apartment and that the fire was contained.

Was there a fire or an explosion at the Rincon apartments?
The Rincon Police Department says a small fire was started inside the apartment and that additional action was taken to cause a small explosion, which was unsuccessful. The release does not explain what that action was and does not say what started the fire. WTOC, working from the same release, phrases it as an attempt to cause an explosion. Police say the fire was contained and the scene was secured.

Where is Bryan Fox now?
The Rincon Police Department says Fox was transported to Effingham Hospital to be evaluated. WTOC says he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, without naming it. Neither account says whether he is still there, whether he has been released to custody, or whether he has a lawyer.

What did Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell say?
Chief Jonathon Murrell is quoted in the department's release calling it "a rapidly evolving and potentially dangerous situation for our officers, residents, and everyone in the surrounding area." He said officers arrived within minutes, immediately engaged the individual and brought the situation under control while avoiding what could have been a lethal force situation, and that the department is thankful no one was injured.

Which agencies responded to the Rincon disturbance?
The Rincon Police Department and Rincon Fire, according to the department's own release. No other agency is named in either account. No case number has been released.

What apartment complex is at 617 Towne Park West Drive in Rincon?
Neither source names one. The Rincon Police Department release gives only the street address, 617 Towne Park West Drive, near Building 1100, and WTOC repeats that address. The Local Alert is not naming a complex that no source names.

Do the two accounts of the Rincon incident agree?
They are not independent of each other. WTOC is working from the Rincon Police Department's release, so the two carry the same facts. Where they differ is grammar: several sentences in the release are incomplete, and WTOC resolves them into cleaner statements. Where WTOC's phrasing goes further than the release does, this report attributes it to WTOC rather than to police.

More Rincon and Effingham County reports are collected on our Effingham County page, and Georgia fire and rescue coverage is on our Fires & Rescues page. Related earlier reports: I-16 West grass fire burns half a mile of median in Bulloch County, GA, the neighboring county to the west, and Warner Robins apartment fire displaces 15 in Houston County, another Georgia apartment fire.

Sources

Rincon Police Department (City of Rincon, official release) — the primary agency source and the origin of every fact in this report: the Aug. 19, 2026 response by the Rincon Police Department and Rincon Fire just before 9 a.m., the address at 617 Towne Park West Drive near Building 1100, the name and age of Bryan Fox, the Taser deployment and custody, the assault on an unnamed employee, the damage to numerous vehicles and at least two apartment units, the small fire and the unsuccessful attempt to cause a small explosion, the statement that no injuries were reported, Chief Jonathon Murrell’s quotation, the pending felony charges, and the transport to Effingham Hospital for evaluation.
WTOC (Gray Television) — a newsroom account written from that same release, attributed throughout to the Rincon Police Department. It carries the same address, age, name, Taser, damage, fire, quotation and pending charges; it renders the release’s incomplete sentences as finished assertions, describes the explosion element as an attempt, and says Fox was taken to the hospital without naming it. It is not an independent confirmation of the agency account.

About this report

Compiled by The Local Alert Georgia Staff from the two sources linked above: one primary agency release from the Rincon Police Department, and one newsroom account, by WTOC, derived from that release. The two are not independent of one another, and nothing here has been confirmed by a second party. Bryan Fox has not been charged. The Rincon Police Department says the incident remains under investigation and that numerous felony charges are pending, and every allegation described here is attributed to that department. Where the release’s sentences are grammatically incomplete, this report says so rather than resolving them, and where WTOC’s phrasing goes beyond the release it is attributed to WTOC. Neither source names the apartment complex, so neither does this report.

Reported and fact-checked as of 1:05 p.m. ET on August 19, 2026.

Every source linked here was opened and verified at that time. This report reflects what was known and confirmed at that moment and is not updated automatically as a story develops. For the current status of an active investigation, contact the agency named above.

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