Newspaper Page Text
On The Record
The
Commerce News
December 12, 2007 • Page 7A
Three Youths Arrested
In Friday Home Invasion
Commerce police arrested a
19-year-old and two 15-year-olds
last Friday after they allegedly
attempted the armed robbery of
a Crossing Place Apartments resi
dence.
Chad Knight, head of the depart
ment’s criminal investigation unit,
said Terrence Cortez Hancock,
19, faces charges of armed rob
bery, burglary, aggravated assault
and possession of a firearm dur
ing the commission of a crime.
Knight said the three knocked
on the door of an apartment occu
pied by an 18-year-old white male,
and when he opened the door,
they showed firearms and forced
their way in.
But the victim told the intrud
ers that he’d already summoned
police, so they fled. They were
later arrested at Hancock’s 66
Pine Avenue residence.
All three admitted the robbery
attempt, Knight said, and the sus
pects led police to where they’d
stashed their weapons.
“We think it was drug-related,”
Knight said .
That was just the highlight of a
busy week for city police. Others
who were arrested include:
•Edward V. Navarro, 45, 2101
SE 38th Street, Amarillo, Texas,
driving under the influence (DUI)
of intoxicants - commercial, failure
to maintain a lane and violation of
the open container law. According
to the arrest document, Navarro
blew a .266 on the Alcosensor
— three times the legal limit for
drunk driving. He was driving an
18-wheeler on U.S. 441 at the
time.
•Gregory F. Scalise, 41, 343
S. Elm St., Commerce, DUI and
failure to maintain a lane. He
reportedly blew a .321 on the
Alcosensor.
•Hope Leigh Fuquay 22, 64
Cypress Drive, Jefferson, DUI,
driving without a license, failure
to maintain a lane, a brake light
violation, a tag light violation and
obstruction of officers. A co-sus
pect, Joshua David Locke, 24, 55
Bud Freeman Road, Royston, was
charged with obstruction of offi
cers and permitting an unlicensed
person to drive. According to the
officer’s report, when he turned
on his blue lights to make the
traffic stop, Fuquay, who was the
passenger, and Locke, who had
been driving, exchanged places.
Not only did that ruse fail, but the
officer also recognized Fuquay
from a traffic stop the night
before when she’d been charged
with misdemeanor possession of
marijuana, and knew she did not
have a valid driver’s license. The
report said the officer recovered
70 hydrocodone pills in a plastic
bottle with which the label had
been tampered. The report said
the two denied swapping places
prior to the arrest.
• Debra Kay Allen, 42, 322
Antioch Church Rd., Nicholson,
and Mickey Thomas Coker,
37, 1912 North Fairview Road,
Lavonia, both charged with pos
session of drugs and possession
of tools for the commission of a
crime. The charges came when an
officer responded to Fuel Mart,
Maysville Road, to a “suspicious
vehicle.” Allen was in the car, and
a search turned up a pill bottle con
taining four pills and no label, and
two plastic bags, one containing
methamphetamine and the other
residue of meth. Lopez was found
in the women’s bathroom, where
the officer also found a glass pipe
containing methamphetamine
residue. A search of the vehicle
turned up another glass pipe with
meth residue, three sets of digital
scales, a butane torch, and 14 “pre
cut corner baggies,” the report
said.
•Tammy Tarpkins, 31, 56 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Commerce,
criminal trespass after she alleg
edly broke a window in a trailer.
•Terry Carlton Angel, 29,
186 Alexander Rd., Commerce,
picked up at a road check in
Banks County on a local warrant.
•Rufus Whitfield Jr., 45, 133
Bennett St., Commerce, arrested
at a traffic stop on a Jackson
County warrant for child neglect.
• Sterling Mitchell, 53, 238
Williamson Lane, Commerce,
driving with a suspended license,
no insurance, a tag light violation
and violation of the open con
tainer law.
•Johnny Christopher Faulkner,
25, 178 Kite St., Toccoa, driving
with a suspended license and no
insurance. He is also being ques
tioned in regard to an assault that
occurred last week.
•Michael Lynn Murphy, 31, 171
Westview Rd., Commerce, picked
up from Madison County on a
local warrant.
•Courtney Lee Voss, 20, 1500
Buckhorn Rd., Clarkesville, picked
up at Hall County on a local war
rant.
•Howard Junior Marlow, 54, 935
Homer Road, Lot 28, Commerce,
disorderly conduct after he alleg
edly invited a neighbor to fight
and pulled a knife.
Northside Drive Site Of Three
Police Incidents In Past Week
Police responded to three inci
dents on Northside Drive during
the past week, two of them for
thefts at the same address.
According to the incident
report, a 57-year-old black male
told police that several transmis
sions and radiators were missing
from his shop. Witnesses report
ed that a 27-year-old black male
and his girlfriend had been seen
at the location loading items into
a truck rented from a local hard
ware store.
The suspect denied renting the
truck; the hardware store con
firmed that it had rented the
vehicle to the man’s girlfriend.
The matter has been turned over
to the criminal investigation divi
sion, the report indicated.
Police were summoned to the
same location, where someone
had entered an unlocked side
door and stolen a flat-screen TV
valued at $900.
The other incident on Northside
Drive was reported by a 59-year-
old black female whose vehicle
had been deliberately scratched
on both sides.
Other incidents reported by
police during the past week
include:
•the loss or theft of a cellular
telephone left in a bathroom at
BJC Medical Center.
•theft of $14.88 in services (a
pizza order) reported by Domino’s
Pizza, South Elm Street. Someone
called in the order and never
picked up the food.
•terroristic threats and acts
at Commerce High School. The
report provided no details except
that the alleged perpetrator was a
juvenile.
•theft of $288 in fuel from the
Flying J Travel Plaza, by a male
who filled up his truck and drove
off. The officials have tag and
other identification of the truck
and the trailer.
•a dispute at a Pine Avenue
location where a 46-year-old white
female said her son, 20, entered
her house, yelled and cursed at
her and shoved her — because she
had not visited his new baby.
•damage to a vehicle at a
Crossing Place apartment, Steve
Reynolds Industrial Boulevard, in
which a 19-year-old black female
found numerous severe scratch
es all over her vehicle. She told
police it was the second such
occurrence.
•criminal damage to property
and criminal trespass at the coin
laundry on South Broad Street.
The security system showed two
white males attempting to steal
money from a washing machine.
They were unsuccessful, but dam
aged the washer.
Collect Gifts For Children
Commerce firemen and their families recent- sure disadvantaged local children have a good
ly held a toy drive to benefit the Jackson Christmas. Pictured with the toys are firemen
County Holiday Connection, which helps make Adam Stephenson and Bryan Allen.
Rental House Destroyed
Fire totally destroyed a rental house off
Fincher Drive last Friday afternoon. The
Commerce, Maysville and Jackson County
Correctional Institute fire departments found
the small house totally engulfed. Officials
said one of the occupants was showering at
the time the fire broke out and had to escape
through a rear window. She was treated for
minor injuries. The cause of the fire is not
known.
Commerce Fire Calls Up For November
The Commerce Fire Depart
ment was dispatched 42 times
during November, but only 16 of
the calls were to fires.
The firemen responded to four
grass or woods fires, four struc
tural fires and three vehicle fires,
along with five reports of unau
thorized burning.
They were also dispatched 16
times for traffic accidents, dis
patched and cancelled en route
three times, dispatched four
times in which steam or gas was
mistaken for smoke and were
sent out one time where they
were never able to find a prob
lem.
The department provided pub
lic service assistance once and
investigated a hazardous mate
rials release once. In all, the
department used 274 staff hours
in response to calls.
Police Calls Down
Meanwhile, activity was down
a little for the Commerce Police
Department during the month,
but it still remains the busiest
municipal law enforcement agen
cy in the county.
Officers were dispatched to
2,085 calls by 911, handled 79
walk-in calls for assistance and
responded to 157 reports to the
school resource officer.
In addition, the animal control
officer made 43 animal control
calls and issued two citations.
Officers filled out 32 acci
dent reports and 101 incident
reports.
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