Newspaper Page Text
July 13, 2011
Reporter
PAGE 7A
Quick response helps nab CVS burglar
An Atlanta man was caught
in the act trying to
steal an estimated
$1,750 worth of ciga
rettes and candy after
he broke into CVS on
Tift College Drive at
1:50 a.m. on the
morning of June 7.
The alarm alerted
police immediately
after Gregory Evans,
49, smashed a win
dow with a rock and
maneuvered his way into an
18 inch by 6 foot tall window
of CVS. Evans was unarmed.
According to lead investigator
Lt. Alexander Daniels, officers
Bruce Hughley and Teldric
Middlebrooks responded
to the call in less than a
minute.
Hughley and
Middlebrooks were com
mended for their short
response time and tact
in handling the situa
tion.
“They did an awesome
job and responded quick
ly,” Police Chief Keith
Corley said.
Officers peered into CVS to
see that Evans was alone, and
they arrested him at a disad
vantageous state as he was
squeezing his way out of the
EVANS
broken window with a 30-gal-
lon trash bag full of stolen
goods.
“The suspect had around 185
packs of cigarettes and proba
bly 200 packs of cigars,” said
Daniels.
Evans told Daniels that he
was staying at Super 8 motel
when two men dared him to
break into CVS.
“It just didn’t sound right,”
said Daniels.
Evans, who has an extensive
criminal record, said that he
was from the metro Atlanta
area and is homeless. Daniels
said he theorizes that Evans
was dropped off by accom
plices who were supposed to
pick him up later, but bailed
because of the patrol cars in
the parking lot.
“We’re looking at the possi
bility that he may have been
involved in more CVS burgla
ries from here to Atlanta,”
said Corley.
Daniels said that he made
contact with CVS stores in
Henry County that were bur
glarized in the same way. The
investigation will continue
though Evans refuses to reveal
his alleged accomplices.
The goods were returned to
CVS, and Evans was charged
with burglary.
Caught in the act, the CVS burglary
suspect dropped his sack of loot at
the door. (Special to the Reporter)
So that’s w hat they
mean by pot-ty mouth?
BY RICHARD DUMAS
A 24-year-old Lizella man was
arrested and charged with pos
session of marijuana, DUI and
failure to maintain lane after a
traffic stop on 1-75 North on
July 5.
According to the incident
report, at about 1:40 p.m.,
Officer Gregg Phillips of the
Forsyth-Monroe County Drug
Task Force saw a black Dodge
Charger cross the white fog line
in the outside lane on 1-75
North. Phillips stopped the
Charger and identified the male
driver as Demontae Mitchell.
Phillips smelled marijuana
coming from the car and asked
Mitchell to step away from the
vehicle. According to the report,
Mitchell was very slow to exit
his car and tried to stand to the
side as if he was trying to turn
away from Phillips. Phillips
asked Mitchell if he had used
marijuana, and Mitchell admit
ted he had "smoked some earli
er." Mitchell then agreed to take
a field sobriety test, but the odor
of marijuana was still strong.
Phillips then asked Mitchell to
open his mouth because he was
mumbling while speaking.
When Mitchell opened his
mouth, Phillips saw it was full
of a green leafy substance that
appeared to be marijuana.
Phillips told Mitchell to spit it
out, but he continued to chew
and swallow as much as he
could. He finally spit out a very
small amount on the ground
and across Phillips' patrol car
hood, according to the report.
Mitchell was immediately
cuffed by Phillips and Sgt.
Shawn Knight of the Forsyth-
Monroe County Drug Task
Force.
According to the report,
Mitchell's pupils were dilated
and appeared to be extremely
bloodshot. Dep. William Jackson
of the Monroe County Sheriffs
Office arrived and took Mitchell
to Monroe County Hospital to
give a blood sample. Mitchell
asked Phillips what the blood
test would indicate because he
"smoked weed all the time."
Phillips told him that is some
thing a GBI lab scientist would
have to determine.
Carjacking suspects wreck, caught
BY RICHARD DUMAS
A 20-year-old Taft, Tenn. man
and his 16-year-old accomplice
were arrested after they car
jacked a Kia Rio on Higgins Mill
Road Sunday.
Dustin Jones, 20, was charged
with armed robbery hijacking a
motor vehicle and aggravated
assault. The male juvenile was
also charged with armed robbery
and hijacking a motor
vehicle. He was transport
ed to the Macon Regional
Youth Detention Center.
According to an incident
report, someone called
Monroe County 911 at
about 6:27 p.m. on July 10
to report an armed robbery
was in progress on Higgins
Mill Road.
Sgt. Todd Haskins of the
Monroe County Sheriffs Office
said Jones and the other man
had come to the area in a silver
Nissan Altima that had been
reported stolen out of Huntsville,
Ala. Haskins said the suspects
were evidently unsatisfied with
their car because they were
believed to have been scouring
the area for a car to steal.
Haskins said the victims, Katy
Ward and Joey Teal, were playing
in a stream at the end of Higgins
Mill Road and left their Kia Rio
unattended. When they returned
to their car, they found the sus
pects seated in the car holding
guns, Haskins said. Jones had a
shotgun.
Haskins said the suspects
ordered Ward and Teal to step
away from the car, and the vic
tims complied. He said
they then ran back to
the creek to tell two
friends, Chris Brock and
Brooke Mann, what had
happened. Mann had a
cell phone nearby and
dialed 9-1-1, he said.
Haskins said as he,
Dep. Daniel Ruiz and
Cpl. Willie Brown
approached the victims,
they saw the Kia Rio had been
wrecked on Higgins Mill Road
and abandoned by the two sus
pects. Haskins said he stayed
where the car was while the
other deputies went to find out
what was going on.
Ruiz and Brown went to the
end of
Higgins
Mill
JONES
Building
continued from the front
office building.
The commissioners voted
unanimously to approve
their design for the build
ing, a move that enables
the advertisement process
to begin for subbidding on
the project. Subbidding is
expected to take about a
month to be completed.
"This looks really good to
me. I'm excited about it,"
county commission chair
man James Vaughn said of
the designs.
Scott Fry of the Fry
Design Group outlined the
major aspects of the build
ing.
Fry said the tax commis
sioner and registrar's
office will be located on the
ground floor of the new
structure since they have
the most visitors. Fry said
the first floor will also
include a drive-through so
citizens can easily drop off
water bill and tax pay
ments.
The new building's main
level will house the tax
assessors office and a room
for county archives where
visitors can do research,
Fry said. He added the
first floor will also include
a building-wide break
room on the back side for
employees.
Fry said the new build
ing's upper level, or third
floor, will house the com
missioners' office, the
finance department, and
will include a new county
commission chamber that
he said will be a lot nicer
and larger than the exist
ing one. Fry said the new
chamber will seat close to
100 people and will have
large windows that peer
out toward the Prime
Palate and onto the court
house square.
Behind the new chamber
will be a meeting room for
the commissioners to
deliberate during closed
session, Fry said.
In all, the new addition
will be 22,000 square feet.
Fry said the new build
ing will include a lot of
glass windows and will
connect to the existing
building by a three-story
atrium, which he described
as a "dramatic entry."
The 1,500 square-feet
occupied by the tax asses
sors office in the basement
of the current building will
likely be used for storage
of things like voting
machines, he said.
The existing building will
house the building depart
ment, the zoning depart
ment and the water
department, Fry said. He
said it was a logical deci
sion to keep those services
in the front of the building
where people are used to
coming.
Fry said the new build
ing will be totally con
structed first, and that the
renovations to the existing
building will occur only
after the new one is ready
for occupants to move into
it. He said work should be
completed in about 18
months.
The current parking lot
between the administra
tive building and Monroe
County Library will be
made into a park under
the approved design.
Vaughn said the new
parking lot will be located
between the new Monroe
County Clubhouse and the
new portion of the admin
istrative building. Vaughn
said the new parking lot
will be just as close to the
building as the current
parking lot is, and he said
he thinks significantly
more parking spaces will
be available.
Fry said he's looking for
ward to starting on the
project, which he was
awarded more than a year
ago. He said it's doubly
exciting because he grew
up in Monroe County.
"It's my county," said Fry,
adding that he's very
thankful the county has
given him the chance to
work with them.
Commissioner Jim Ham
echoed Fry's anxiousness
to begin building.
"I'm tired of waiting," he
said. "I'm ready to get
started."
Fry said they're wrap
ping up all the consultant
work on the engineering,
mechanical, electrical and
plumbing features and will
start advertising for sub
contractors in a few weeks.
The new building will be
funded by county sales tax
collections.
Road where they met with Ward
and Teal. The victims told the
deputies the suspects were in
another vehicle that remained
nearby. Haskins said the stolen
Altima was then discovered at
the end of Higgins Mill Road
near where the victims were.
Haskins said they may have been
returning to steal the victims'
friends' car, but that he did not
personally interview the suspects
and is not exactly sure why they
had gone back to the original
scene.
On the ground beside the
wrecked Rio were a green duffel
bag and a clear plastic bag with
yellow edges, according to the
report. The clear bag contained a
black net bag of assorted jewelry,
several pill bottles with another
man's name and several lighters
and pipes. There were also two
digital scales inside the bag.
According to the report, the juve
nile identified the bag as his.
Haskins said the case was
turned over to Inv. Baxter James
of the Monroe County Sheriffs
Office.
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Scores
continued from the front
Pack.
However, Pack noted the school system
is graduating 52 more students than it
did just nine years ago, when its gradua
tion rate was around 60 percent.
Pack said he thinks No Child Left
Behind did some good in forcing schools
to measure progress and set goals. But
he said he hopes Congress reconsiders
some of the stringent requirements.
"We've done a great thing in that we
are making sure every child is taught to
a higher degree," said Pack. "But find me
one company that meets 100 percent of
all its targets every year."
Pack said there are some students
working on graduating this summer but
he doesn't think it'll move the rate to
where it needs to be. Last summer, in a
bid to make AYP, the school system
offered iTouches to entice MP students
with low scores to re-take the graduation
tests. However, it didn't get MP's gradu
ation rate over the hump.
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