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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 23. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters
tat/a Editor
To the Editor:
Has anyone noticed the
amount of litter on the sides
of the roads in the county? It
is hard to overlook how terri
ble it has become.
It is time for the County
Commissioners to get out of
their offices and drive around
the county to see the amount
of litter on the sides of our
roadways and act. Has any
one noticed how disgusting
the sides of the roads look?
In particular- Philadelphia
Road, Lumber Company Rd.,
SR-136, Highway 515 and
even Main Street/Refiige Rd.
Time to address the root
cause of all the littering;
Contractor pickup trucks
without bed covers, Trash
pickup services without cov
ers, people going to the recy
cling center without trash
secured in their vehicles. We
have litter laws in the county,
but they are not being en
forced!
Why have laws if there are
no teeth behind them with
real consequences?
Why do we pay contrac
tors with our tax dollars to
pick up the trash on the side
of the road (at best on a quar
terly basis) instead of ad
dressing the root cause of the
issue?
It is time to take a serious
stance on littering in the
County!
Debbie Santinelli
- Pickens County resident
To the Editor:
After reading last week’s
humorous rant [among the
letters] about the Flock cam
era system, I thought it quite
ironic that the first two of
fenses in the Sheriff’s Beat
report on the same page in
volved this same “immoral “
Flock system.
Seems it was instrumental
in the arrest of a likely unsafe
driver with a suspended li
cense. More importantly, the
second was the DUI arrest of
the driver, which caused me
to consider two options.
Would I prefer to have a
camera check my tag and in
dicate that I lead a normal life
with no driving or legal of
fenses, or instead remove a
system in place which would
take a drunk driver off the
road who could have killed
me, a friend or family mem
ber?
I think the answer is obvi
ous. In closing, I have ob
served over a long life that
trustworthy people generally
follow the rules of society
and trust others, while those
who are not trustworthy are
the first to distrust those
around them.
Gerald Hunter
To the Editor:
I feel compelled to tell
you about a scam. It seems an
Army Ranger was buried in
the Canton National Ceme
tery. He was a member of P
Co. 75th Ranger Regiment,
so I wrote a letter to the pres
ident of the P Co. Society to
find out where they met.
About a week later, I got a
call from (unnamed) Ranger,
president of P Co. Society
from Mississippi. We talked,
exchanged stories, but found
that his group was too far to
go for me.
Within an hour I got a call
from I’ll call the president of
P Co. Society who explained
he was in jail for rear ending
another car and was arrested
and being detained. He said
he was allowed only one call
and the only number he had
was mine. Would I talk to his
court-appointed defense
lawyer named Davis? I said
sure I would. But this guy
had a New Jersey or New
York accent. So, he had the
jailer transfer his (his one and
only) call to the lawyer. The
transfer was immediate and
would you believe it was
Davis. He explained that the
offense (inattentive driving
and use of cell phone) re
quired $6,000 bail - if
payable immediately would
get my Ranger friend out of
jail the next day. I told the de
fense lawyer that was a lot of
money. He said I could get it
back immediately after trial
but there would be a $287
fee.
Now, here’s what I advise.
Get the lawyer’s phone num
ber so you can call back and
make arrangements to pay
the bail. The scam lawyer
gave me a 706 area code
number (Georgia). In as
much as my buddy was in
Mississippi, I had to ask if
the lawyer was admitted to
the bar in Mississippi. His
answer put the “icing on the
cake” for he explained that
his firm had offices every
where. I hung up.
What’s scary is somehow
they had my number and my
Ranger buddy’s number.
Both Pickens County and
Gilmer County sheriff’s of
fices confirmed this was a
scam. I called my buddy
back, and he went ballistic.
There’s nothing you can do
but hang up. But don’t pay!
Robert Reitz
Letters welcomed -
No letter more than 450 words;
Send to news@pickensprogress.com
or Pickens Progress 94 N. Main,
Jasper, Ga. 30143; All letters must
have a full name that will be pub
lished, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number),
which will not be published.
Bryan Lawrence
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In addition to the activity
from the Uniform Patrol Di
vision, Court Service
Deputies reported the fol
lowing statistics for the past
week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 1,127
Weapons Found: 19
Courts Held: 13
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 1
Civil Papers Received: 36
Civil Papers Served: 31
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 74
Total male inmates: 60
Total female inmates: 14
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 76 sex of
fenders registered with the
Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
PS<
REPORT
The Pickens Sheriff’s
Office responds to many
calls for service every day.
The following incidents
are a few deputies respond
to each day.
Traffic stop finds
marijuana
A deputy was on patrol
when he found a car with an
expired registration. The
deputy pulled the car over
and when he walked up to the
window he could smell a
very strong scent of mari
juana. The deputy asked the
driver if she had marijuana in
the car and she handed the
deputy a paper bag with two
baggies inside that had mari
juana in them.
Woman bitten by two dogs
A woman called for a
deputy because she was bit
ten by two dogs. The woman
said she saw her friend’s dog
out loose and running around
in the yard. The woman de
cided to put the dogs back in
side her friend’s house, and
that is when the two dogs bit
her. The woman had called
her friend who had been out
shopping and she came home
immediately. The woman did
not want to press charges or
have anything happen to the
dogs, she believed the dogs
were protecting their home.
The friend said she did not
know how the dogs got out of
the house when she left. The
woman said she only wanted
to make sure the two dogs
were okay.
Trailer on fire
A woman called for help
when she realized her
brother’s trailer was on fire.
The woman said she went to
the trailer because she saw
smoke. She said when she
went into the trailer she
thought it could have been
from a woodbuming stove.
The woman said she saw her
brother’s dog laying on a
blanket, when she picked up
the dog and the blanket she
saw the blanket had burned a
little. She took the dog out of
the trailer and called for help.
Criminal Trespass
A homeowner called for a
deputy because she believes
her neighbor has cut down
two of her fruit trees. The
homeowner said she had
problems with the neighbor
in the past. She said the
neighbor had cut grass on her
property and had hung a
hammock between two trees
on her property. The home-
owner had the property sur
veyed and showed the
neighbor that it was indeed
her property. The homeowner
said she has not had any
problems with the neighbor
in quite some time, but she
believes it was the neighbor
that cut down her fruit trees.
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
Lost combination
A man called to have a
deputy come and inspect his
safe. The man had lost his
combination to the safe and
he contacted the manufac
turer to see about getting a
new combination. The manu
facturer needed a report with
the location and serial num
bers of the safe to prove it
wasn’t stolen. The deputy ran
the serial number and was
able to prove it had not been
stolen and a report was made
for the manufacturer.
Warrant service and
found drugs
A deputy was out to serve
a warrant when he located the
wanted man. The deputy was
able to put handcuffs on the
man and found a clear pipe
inside a sock in the man’s
back pocket. The pipe is
commonly used to smoke
drugs. The deputy found a
cut straw with white residue,
and the man told the deputy
that he uses the straw to snort
pills. Then a pill was found in
the man’s pocket. The man
was taken to jail on his war
rant.
Damage to a mailbox
A homeowner in the Hob
son Road area called for a
deputy because his mailbox
had been damaged. The
homeowner was not sure
how it was damaged or who
would have done such a
thing. The deputy set up extra
patrols in the area.
Argument
A mother called to report
her son and daughter were
keeping things from her and
violating her rights by not
giving her a set of car keys.
The mother said her son and
daughter were keeping her
out of family matters because
the son and daughter keep the
front doors locked to their
homes. The son and daughter
explained to the deputies that
their mother was diagnosed
with dementia in 2018 and
she is progressively getting
worse. They told the deputy
the mother was mad because
they would not give her keys
to a car. Everyone agreed to
separate and settle down be
fore speaking to each other
again.
Man called for an
ambulance
A man called for an ambu
lance because he said he was
elderly and being abused. A
deputy went to the home and
spoke to the man. The man
said he called for an ambu
lance because he was cold
and the people living in the
house would not close the
door. The deputy asked the
man who lived in the house
and the man kept saying he
was cold. The deputy asked
again who all lived in the
house, and the man said he
did not know. The deputy
asked who allowed the peo
ple to live in the house and
the man said he was not
going to talk to the deputy
any more. The deputy spoke
to a neighbor and the neigh
bor said the house belongs to
the man’s son, and the son let
the man move in some time
ago. Since then the man had
allowed people to stay in the
home but did not know who
they were. The deputy started
speaking to the man again
and the man complained
about being cold and wanted
an ambulance. Then the man
told the deputy to take his
gun out of his holster and
shoot him. When the ambu
lance arrived the man told
both the ambulance and the
man to leave his property.
Man overdoses
A woman called for help
because her boyfriend had
overdosed. The woman said
her boyfriend had been work
ing in the garage and sent her
a text he would be coming in
side the house. When he did
n’t come in, the woman went
to find him. She said her
boyfriend was laying on the
ground unresponsive. The
woman said she threw water
on him but it didn’t wake him
up, so she called 911. When
the deputy arrived Pickens
Fire and Rescue were work
ing on the man and the man
was now conscious. The
deputy asked the man what
drugs he had ingested and the
man told him heroin. The
man was taken to the hospi
tal.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Of
fice responded to or initiated 2,359 calls for service.
These numbers are taken from the report provided
directly from the 911 Center where all calls are
logged as they are performed. Below is a breakdown
of all dispatched calls by the call type for each inci
dent.
Accidents 25
Suicide Threats / Attempts 3
Domestics 26
Theft / Burglary Related 34
Forgery / Fraud 9
Traffic Stops 346
Citations Issued 22
Animal Investigations 18
Suspicious Persons/Activities 34
Alarm Calls 32
Stranded Motorists 12
Street Hazards 23
Vandalism 12
Abandoned Vehicles 3
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, resi
dences 3,306. In addition to these, other calls in
clude search warrants, civil service, 911 hang-up
calls, assaults, disorderly persons, missing persons,
assistance with medical calls, natural death investi
gations, demented persons, funeral escorts, harass
ment, trespassing, and many more.
17 Individuals were booked into the Adult Deten
tion Center on charges from the Pickens Sheriff’s
Office. Out of these, the following charges were
taken by PSO deputies (note: some individuals have
multiple charges):
Simple Battery -1
Reckless Conduct -1
Criminal Trespass -1
Theft By Taking/ Felony -1
DUI Drugs -1
Probation Violation Felony - 2
Hold For Another County - 2
DUI -1
Driving W/ License suspended/ revoked - 4
Parole Violation -1
Unlawful Dumping/ burning -1
Criminal Damage to Property - 2nd Degree - 2
Disorderly Conduct County Ordinance -1
Bond Violation -1
Cruelty to animals - MISD -1
Sheriff’s Custody Order -1
GRISHAM, POOLE
& CARLILE, PC
Criminal Defense I Family Law
"You can't go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change
the ending." - C.S. Lewis
21 COURT STREET
JASPER, GEORGIA
678.880.9360
Experienced. Established. Effective.