Newspaper Page Text
August 10, 2022
Page 4C
Reporter
Forsyth woman suspect in 5 DUIs
A Forsyth woman was
arrested on Friday in what’s
suspected to be her fifth
DUI incident in four years.
Jana Dingmore, 54, of
Rogers Church Road, For
syth, had her most
recent DUI arrest
on Friday, Aug. 5.
According to the
Monroe County
sheriff’s report, dis
patch gave a BOLO
around 1:55 p.m. on
Friday for a silver
2004 Jeep Cherokee
on reports a female
driver was falling
asleep at the wheel while
traveling on 1-75 N. The
last report was that she
exited the interstate at Pate
Road.
Deputy Tyler Rodgers
later passed the Jeep on
Shi Road and saw it drive
several feet off the road in a
curve. The Jeep sped up to
53 mph in a 40-mph zone
so Rodgers did a U-turn
and started following. The
driver, later identified as
Dingmore, crossed the
center line and fog line 4
times each and was weav
DINGMORE
ing back and forth from the
center line to the shoulder.
The passenger side brake
light was out as well. Once
they were close to May
nards Mill Road, Rodgers
activated his
emergency lights
and initiated a
stop.
Dingmore told
deputy James
Brooks she lost
her driver’s
license, but was
able to show
him a passport.
Dingmore told
deputies she was coming
from field day in Macon.
Rodgers noticed her eyes
were red and watery, her
speech slurred, and there
was a strong odor of alco
hol coming from inside the
Jeep.
When asked, she said she
had not consumed any al
cohol that day, and that she
was 30 days sober. Asked
if she took any medication,
she said she does, but none
that makes her drowsy or
impairs her. Dingmore also
said there were no alcoholic
beverages inside the vehicle
and agreed to a sobriety
test.
Dingmore swayed for
nearly the entire test and
stopped the test multiple
times. Finally Dingmore
admitted to having one
White Claw but would not
say when. She also admit
ted she was taking some
alcohol home in the Jeep.
She added that she was
pressured into drinking by
friends.
An alco sensor indicated
a very high positive reading
for alcohol.
A small unopened bottle
of Fireball was found under
the passenger seat as well
as 3 small bottles of Fireball
in her purse, one of which
was half empty.
Cpl. Larry Sullivan took
Dingmore to the Monroe
County Jail where Rodg
ers cited her for failure to
maintain lane, speeding,
brake light requirements,
and DUI.
Less than a month earlier,
on Friday, July 8, Dingmore
was charged with DUI after
she was found was asleep
in the driver’s seat with her
seatbelt undone and the en
gine still running, this time
in a 2012 Ford Edge near
Treadwell Road and Rog
ers Church Road. The 911
dispatchers received several
calls that she was swerv
ing on the road, almost
causing several head-on
collisions, and nearly hit
ting mailboxes on Hwy. 74.
Two cold bottles of Fireball
whiskey were found in her
car, one half empty. She was
charged with DUI then too.
A year and a half ear
lier, Dingmore was also
suspected in a DUI crash
on Sunday, Jan. 10,2021
on Hwy. 42 south. Mon
roe County Cpl. Thomas
Haskins was dispatched
to a wreck just south
of Forsyth on Hwy. 42
around 1 p.m. As he ar
rived Haskins saw a Ford
Fusion leaving the scene.
Haskins determined that
Mrs. Dingmore had left the
roadway in a curve, then
overcorrected and struck a
tree. But her husband, Jerry
Dingmore, told Haskins
that he sent her home with
their son because she was
upset. Haskins sent deputy
Sullivan to their Rogers
Church Road home to talk
to Mrs. Dingmore. He ar
rived 10 minutes after her,
but her husband said she
had taken a tranquilizer,
Tramadol, and couldn’t talk
to him. Haskins told Mr.
Dingmore he suspected his
wife of DUI, and Ding
more called his attorney
to see what he should do.
Haskins said she needed
to turn herself into the
sheriff’s office. She turned
herself in on Tuesday, Jan.
12 and was charged with
hit and rim. The charge was
later changed to failure to
maintain lane and she pled
guilty and agreed to go to
counseling.
Records show Dingmore
also pled guilty to DUI in
Crawford County in 2020.
Back on June 14,2018,
Dingmore was stopped
by the Georgia State
Patrol on Tharpe Drive in
Macon after she crossed
into oncoming traffic and
nearly hit someone. The
trooper noted she smelled
of alcohol and eyes were
bloodshot and speech was
slurred. She said she was
on her way to Plato’s Closet.
When he administered
a sobriety test, she began
crying. The trooper found a
bottle of Fireball whiskey in
her purse and took her to
jail. On the way Dingmore
told him several times that
she was a preacher’s wife
and she couldn’t believe he
wasn’t giving her a break.
She eventually pled guilty
to DUI for that case.
District attorney Jonathan
Adams said Dingmore
obviously needs help.
“This is a sad case of
someone with an addiction
that will someday kill her
self or others,” said Adams.
He said DUIs are handled
by the Monroe County
Probate Court and not his
office until a defendant has
three DUI convictions. Af
ter that it becomes a felony
punishable by up to 5 years
in prison.
Dingmore was a teacher
at Mary Persons from
2018-20.
Car found in Monroe, missing man’s body found in Crawford
By Vicky Simmons
The Georgia Post
The body of a Gwinnett
County man suffering
from dementia whose car
was found near Culloden
was found last Tuesday,
Aug. 2 in Crawford
County.
Georgia Department of
Transportation workers cutting
grass found the body of 67-year-
old Edward Lee Knight
last Tuesday.
Knight had last been
seen around 4 p.m.
on Thursday, July 28,
2022 leaving his home
in Gwinnett County.
He was going to drive
to the Kroger there to
KNIGHT
pick up medication and never
returned home. Knight had been
diagnosed with dementia accord
ing to police.
Knight was driving a black 2013
Toyota Corolla. The car was later
recovered in Monroe County,
but there was no sign of Knight.
Family and locals helped search
the area for him but were unsuc
cessful.
Then on Aug. 2, the Crawford
County Sheriff’s Office received a
call around 2:33 p.m. concerning
a dead person found in the ditch
on Highway 341 North between
Highway 42 North and Old 341
West. The DOT was cutting
grass in the area when one of
their employees discovered the
body, a male, and he was later
pronounced dead at the scene
by Crawford County coroner
Sheldon Mattox.
The GBI along with other agen
cies helped confirm identity of
the body, which was sent to the
GBI crime lab for an autopsy to
determine cause of death.
This is still an ongoing investi
gation by the GBI and the Craw
ford County Sheriff’s Office.
INCIDENTS
Continued from Page 3C
to walk and stand. EMS came and checked
him out and he declined to be taken to the
hospital.
Asked him if he had taken anything
that would impair his ability to drive, and
the man said he had taken a Lortab a few
hours earlier. He agreed to a sobriety test
but due to his hip problem Mosely had
him lean against his patrol car for support
while he checked his eyes.
He was taken to the hospital for a blood
test. On the way to the hospital, Mosely
spoke briefly by phone with the man’s
mother to let her know her son was not
injured but was under arrest and would
be at the Monroe County Jail. The man
asked Mosely if his mother was upset,
and Mosely told him she seemed like she
was. He then told Mosely he wasn’t mad at
him and knew that he was doing his job.
He added that he knew he shouldn’t have
“taken those Lortabs” before he left to go
to the doctor. He said even the bottle says
not to operate a motor vehicle on it.
He was charged with DUI, failure to
maintain lane and suspended registration.
Florida mangoes to jail
for drugs in his pocket
A Port Richey, Fla. woman and man
were stopped in a 2012 Honda SUV just
after midnight on Aug. 4 and while the
28-year-old-female driver was cited for
speeding and released, the male passen
ger was taken to jail on drug charges. Sgt.
Thomas Haskins paced the car doing 95
mph just north or Rumble Road on 1-75
N and made the stop near Hwy. 18 and
could smell burnt marijuana coming from
the vehicle as he approached. Haskins then
had the occupants exit the SUV and radi
oed Cpl. Wade Kendrick for assistance.
The 28-year-old male passenger con
sented to a search and Haskins found a
small bag of marijuana and a small bag
of a white crack-like substance inside his
pocket. When asked if the substance was
cocaine the man first answered, “man, I
don’t even know”, then stated “yeah, it’s
cocaine”. He was then handcuffed behind
his back. Haskins told him he was under
arrest and put him in the backseat of his
patrol car.
The driver was cited for speeding and
released while the passenger was taken to
the Monroe County Jail and charged with
marijuana and cocaine possession.
Florida convict busted
with firearm and weed
A 42-year-old convicted felon from Flor
ida was arrested on Aug. 4 by Cpl. Wade
Kendrick after he clocked a black Jeep
SUV with three male occupants speeding
at 95 mph on 1-75 S near the weigh station.
Kendrick made the stop near North Lee
Street and was immediately overwhelmed
by the odor of fragrance spray as he made
a passenger side approach and the front
seat passenger rolled down the window.
After explaining the reason for the
stop and asking the driver for his license,
Kendrick returned to his car to write a
speeding ticket and radioed Sgt. Thomas
Haskins for assistance. Haskins removed
the passenger from the Jeep and asked him
about marijuana due to the coverup odor.
The man then said he had marijuana in
his shorts and handed it to the sergeant.
He told Haskins the Jeep belonged to him
and he let the other man drive because he
was tired. All three refused to talk to the
deputy.
Kendrick found a magazine to a firearm
and noticed the glove box was locked. Af
ter unlocking the glove box, Haskins found
a Smith & Wesson MP9 and over an ounce
of suspected marijuana.
Dispatch said the front seat passenger
was a convicted felon and he was im
mediately arrested for the firearm within
his reach and the marijuana in his shorts.
He was also charged for possession of a
firearm during the commission of a felony.
The car was released to the driver who was
cited for speeding.
Convenience store clerk caught steal
ing on camera
A Royal Seven convenience store em
ployee at 325 Cabiness Road was fired and
banned from the property for theft on
Aug. 4. The manager told Cpl. Kimberly
Barnett he had an employee who had been
working for about 2 months in his store
and had already caught her stealing while
she was working and had warned her.
He said when he watched the cameras
earlier in the day, he saw that she was still
stealing and wanted to press charges and
have her banned from the store. After
Barnett watched the video, she issued the
woman a criminal trespass warning and
escorted her off the property.
Suspect seen on Ring camera turns
out to be spider web
A Holiday Cove Apartment resident
thought he saw someone tampering with
his 2011 Escalade on his Ring camera
while he was in Florida on Aug. 6 and
called police. Officer Richard Maddox re
sponded and was unable to find anything
other than a large spider web that extended
from the driver’s side mirror to the ground.
Maddox tried to call the man to report but
his voicemail was full.
NOTICE
The Monroe County Board of Commissioners does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the Monroe County Board of
Commissioners, 38 West Main Street, Forsyth, Georgia 31029 on August 18, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32 does
hereby publish the followingfollowing presentation of the current year’s tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years.
CURRENT 2022 PROPERTY TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
COUNTY WIDE
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Real & Personal
1,501,983,609
1,538,817,377
1,604,866,454
1,641,598,315
1,757,869,592
1,903,130,480
c
0
Motor Vehicles
31,243,230
25,601,020
20,638,090
18,446,430
15,782,620
15,094,400
V
Mobile Homes
2,496,207
2,408,842
2,359,365
2,260,968
2,128,333
2,345,787
u
A
«
Timber -100%
4,960,035
3,267,379
2,389,692
3,785,394
4,098,334
3,900,239
n
u
Heavy Duty Equipment
151,962
295,683
6,583
21,285
3,746
6,987
y
E
Gross Digest
1,540,835,043
1,570,390,301
1,630,260,184
1,666,112,392
1,779,882,625
1,924,477,893
w
Less Exemptions
215,417,129
216,254,846
220,703,126
227,083,043
232,290,966
241,025,341
1
d
NET DIGEST VALUE
1,325,417,914
1,354,135,455
1,409,557,058
1,439,029,349
1,547,591,659
1,683,452,552
e
R
Gross Maintenance & Operation Millage
15.5760
15.3780
15.8120
15.8410
15.2750
15.2191
A
r
A
T
E
Less Rollback [Local Option Sales Tax)
2.2450
2.0470
2.5210
2,6540
2.4750
2.5891
e
NET M&O MILLAGE RATE
13.3310
13.3310
13.2910
13.1870
12.8000
12.6300
3
TOTAL M&O TAXES LEVIED
$17,669,146
$18,051,980
$18,734,423
$18,976,480
$19,809,173
$21,262,006
TAX
Net Tax $ Increase
$382,834
$682,443
$242,057
$832,693
$1,452,832
Net Tax % Increase
2.17%
3.78%
1.29%
4.39%
7.33%