Newspaper Page Text
September 10, 2008
PAGE 13A
—^Reporter
The Public Record
Arrest in Grits Cafe carjacking
An arrest has been made in the
armed robbery and carjacking
behind Grits Cafe on July 10.
Elliott Jermaine Ponder, 27, of
Forsyth has been arrested for pos
session of stolen property and pos
session of a handgun by a convicted
felon. Ponder was caught with
stolen car parts from the victim’s
PONDER
car after an arrest for traffic viola
tions and obstruction by Macon
police on July 23.
Ponder became a suspect after
tips from the public connected him
to the stolen parts. After Ponder's
arrest in Macon, Forsyth investiga
tors searched the car he was driv
ing and linked items in the car to
the victim. Subsequent investigation led
detectives to a handgun that was in
Ponder's possession. Ponder is a convicted
felon, having been convicted of aggravated
assault in 2001.
Ponder has not been charged with
armed robbery in connection with the
Grits Cafe incident. Anyone with informa
tion concerning the Grits Cafe assault and
theft are urged to call the Forsyth Police
Department at 994-6022.
Last week, authorities announced they
have arrested and charged Eatonton men
as suspects in the Dairy Queen shooting
from Aug. 10. Thus, it now appears the
cases were not directly related.
Tennessee driver admits: I’m legally blind
BY LAURA THACKSTON
A Chattanooga man was arrest
ed Sept. 3 for DUI, parking in
the middle of an exit ramp and
borrowing his car tag from a
friend.
Here’s what happened, accord
ing to the Monroe County
Sheriff’s office police report: Cpl.
Duncan was exiting 1-75 on Sept.
3 at 3:56 p.m. when he saw a
brown Chevrolet van parked in
the middle of the exit 188 ramp.
The driver, Sean Francis Wade,
of Chattanooga, was slurring his
speech and having a hard time
standing up. Cpl. Duncan was
then told by dispatch that the
tag belonged on a 1990 Ford
truck, and not on the van. When
questioned about this, Wade said
“Oh yeah, that’s not the tag for
this van. I just borrowed it from
a friend.”
While Wade was looking for his
registration and license, two dogs
and a cat got out of the car and
walked past him. The report said
Wade did not realize the animals
had left the car. Unable to find
his license and registration, he
finally handed Cpl. Duncan a
folder and asked him to find it.
According to the report, Wade
said he couldn’t find it on his
own because he’s basically legal
ly blind and can’t see anything.
He said he chose to drive anyway
because he wanted to get out of
Tennessee. He also told Cpl.
Duncan that his license had been
taken from him in 1997 by the
state of Connecticut for a DUI.
His license was suspended and
he didn’t have car insurance.
Wade was taken to the Monroe
County Jail for breath samples,
but would only chew on the
mouthpiece of the Intoxilyzer
and never gave a breath sample.
The animals were handed over to
Monroe County Animal Control
and Wade was
charged with
DUI, driving
while license is
suspended, no
insurance, oper
ation of an
unregistered
vehicle and
using a tag to con
ceal the identity of a vehicle.
WADE
Incidents
The Forsyth Police
Department reported the fol
lowing incidents Aug. 24 &
Sept. 1:
Aug. 24
•6:10 p.m. A complainant
said a lady almost hit her
and her granddaughter
while crossing the street at
Wal-Mart. She said the sus
pect sped up instead of
slowing down while they
were in the crosswalk and
would have hit her if she
had not pulled the baby
back. The complainant said
she has had problems with
the suspect before and war
rants had been taken.
Sept. 1
•Officer Crane was dis
patched to the Monroe
County Hospital in refer
ence to theft of medication.
The complainant said she
was trying to give a shot of
Demerol and Phenergan to
a patient when she turned
around and the medication
was gone. When the staff
member asked about the
medications, the suspects
became nervous and asked
to use the restroom, going
into the same bathroom
together. Crane searched
the subjects and bathroom,
but didn’t find anything.
The Sheriff’s Office report
ed the following incidents
Aug.29-Sept. 3:
Aug. 29
•9:47 a.m. Deputy C. Beck
stopped a black Nissan
Maxima for no insurance
and registration. The driver
was wanted for failure to
appear, but the name the
passenger gave did not come
back on file. The passenger
also had an unlabeled bottle
of medication in his pocket
with nine white pills in it.
Driver and passenger were
arrested and taken to the
Monroe County Jail. An
empty Oxycodone pill bottle
was later found in the car.
•4:06 p.m. A complainant
said he had been attacked
by a man in Musella. He
said he was trying to move
to his new house in Byron
when he and the suspect
began fighting about the
suspect using illegal drugs
in the house. The victim
said the suspect followed
him outside and grabbed his
face, causing him to have a
slightly black left eye with
scratches on his face. The
complainant said the sus
pect lives on Hwy. 42 South,
but wasn't sure of the exact
location.
Sept. 1
•9:52 a.m. A man said
someone entered the
Bolingbroke Furniture Co.
and removed several items.
The business owner said
entry was made through a
front door by removing a
wooden panel and reaching
through to unlatch the door.
The owner said one of his
weapons had been moved.
One of the weapons had
prints on the barrel just
above the forearm. The
prints were put into evi
dence.
Sept. 2
•11:45 p.m. Sgt. Grindstaff
was dispatched to
Brandywine Drive in refer
ence to a subject refusing to
leave a house. The com
plainant said his brother
came over to his house
unannounced, very drunk
and loud. The complainant
told the suspect to leave the
house, but he refused, tear
ing the victim’s shirt before
running into the woods
behind the house. The sus
pect was found and arrested
for criminal trespassing and
transported to the Monroe
County Jail.
Sept. 3
•2:08 p.m. A complainant
said a credit card account
had been opened in his
name without his permis
sion. He said Capital One
Bank called him on Aug. 29
to tell him his credit card
account was past due. He
said he has an account with
Capital One, but when he
checked his records he was
told that he had two
accounts with them. He
called his ex-wife and she
said she used his social
security number to open the
account. He wanted a report
on file so he could close the
Arrests
The following arrests were
reported at the Monroe County
Jail Aug. 28-Sept 4. An arrest
means a person has been
charged with a crime but the
law considers them innocent
until proven guilty:
Aug. 28
•8:31 p.m. Corkeitha
Lashun Hicks, Forsyth, disor
derly conduct.
•8:32 p.m. Shaquille
Dieondra Hicks, Forsyth, dis
orderly conduct.
Aug. 29
•12:23 a.m. Landric Demon
Brantley, Forsyth, aggravated
assault, robbery.
•2:16 a.m. Robert Freeman
Jr., Forsyth, violation of
parole, stalking, obstruction.
•10:46 a.m. Samuel Keith
Ussery, Macon, littering, giv
ing false name, prescription
not in original container.
•7:54 p.m. Robert Elon
Burke, Eatonton, aggravated
battery, armed robbery.
Aug. 30
•4:04 a.m. Klay Cash,
Smarr, failure to maintain
lane, DUI, suspended license
Aug. 31
•12:15 a.m.Chad Meeks,
Orlando, FL, DUI, suspended
license, one-way roadways and
rotary traffic islands.
Sept. 1
•12:40 a.m. Antwain
Pittman, Forsyth, simple bat
tery.
Sept 2
•9:23 a.m. Cassius D.
Alexander, Macon, theft by
receiving.
•9:28 a.m. Samuel Duffel,
Forsyth, sexual offender failed
to register (felony), convicted
felons possession of firearm.
•2:58 p.m. James Proctor,
Forsyth, driving while unli
censed, no proof of insurance,
criminal trespass.
•4:35 p.m. Juan Carlos
Rodriguez-Cerda, Eastpoint,
trafficking cocaine, vehicles
with false or secret compart
ments, suspended license, fail
ure to maintain lane
•6:40 p.m. Angelo Walker,
Dublin, theft by rec. property.
•7:52 p.m. Ray Mays,
Forsyth, disorderly conduct.
•9:26 p.m. Michelle Wright
Jr., Forsyth, hindering appre
hension of a criminal.
Sept. 3
•12:28 a.m. Jose Angel
Olvera, Charlotte, N.C., fail
ure to maintain lane, DUI.
•12:45 a.m. Neal Hugh
Pippin, Forsyth, criminal tres
passing.
•1:27 p.m. Joshua Glenn
Phillips, Forsyth, aggravated
battery.
•5:03 p.m. Quincy Antonio
Brantley, Forsyth, robbery by
intimidation, aggravated
assault.
•5:12 p.m. Sean F. Wade,
Chattanooga, TN, use of
license plate to conceal identi
fication, unregistered vehicle,
no proof of insurance, driving
on suspended license, DUI.
•10:55 p.m. John Leon
Chisom, Atlanta, battery.
Sept. 4
•4:43 p.m. Veronica Michelle
Walton, Forsyth, obstruction
of an officer (felony), cruelty
to children.
Charges dropped
Drug charges against Edward “Bubba”
Kempson, 42, of Forsyth have been dis
missed.
Kempson was charged in January with
possession of Xanax with intent to distrib
ute. But last week prosecutors dropped
the charge after Kempson showed them a
against Kempson
prescription for the Xanax, said district
attorney Richard Milam.
He pled guilty to an unrelated DUI
charge.
The Reporter strives to print any follow
up story when charges are dropped or
someone is cleared of a charge.
account and be removed
from the credit report.
•7:47 p.m. A High Road
resident said someone
entered her home and stole
a bag of coins. The bag,
which contained 40 Susan
B. Anthony silver dollars
and a few more various
coins, was said to be worth
about $200. There was no
forced entry and nothing
else in the house was taken,
even though there were
other items of value in the
house.
-Compiled by Laura
Thackston
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