Newspaper Page Text
On The R ecord
The
Commerce News
January 16,2008 • Page 7A
Two Commerce officers look on as Jackson
County EMS provides oxygen for Detective
Chad Knight and officers Cameron Boswell and
Billy Shane Harrison. The three were treated for
smoke inhalation after they entered a burning
mobile home in search of a wheelchair-bound
resident. The resident had escaped the fire, but
the officers pulled two dogs from the blaze.
Photo by Mark Beardsley
Commerce Police Department Arrests
Tag Problem Leads To 3 Arrests
An obscured tag on a vehicle
resulted in three arrests after a
Commerce Police Department
officer pulled it over on South
Broad Street.
The officer ran a check on the
driver, Jason Edward Smith, 22,
3943 Blacks Creek Church Road,
Commerce, and found that he
was driving with a suspended
license, so he cited Smith for
that violation and for having an
obscured tag.
Meanwhile, a passenger,
Jimmy Stoy Anthony, 28, of the
same address, was arrested on
a felony warrant from Madison
County for possession of a fire
arm by a convicted felon. The
other passenger, Michael Lynn
Murphy, 31, 182 Victoria Way,
Commerce, was taken into cus
tody on a Franklin County war
rant for probation violation.
Others arrested during the past
week and the charges against
them include:
•Antonio Hill, 22, 3313 West
Weaver Road, Hampton, VA,
driving with a suspended license.
The officer reported finding
small amounts of marijuana in
the vehicle, but not enough to
make a charge.
•Marcus Earl Agar, 49, 402
Noble Oaks Drive, Savannah, driv
ing with a suspended license fol
lowing a traffic stop on Interstate
85 for a window tint violation.
•James Michael Brewer, 34,
151 Pine Street, Commerce, pub
lic intoxication, after he alleg
edly solicited for money at Ray’s
Corner Station, Jefferson Road.
The report indicated that Brewer
had no identification on him at
the time and admitted to drink
ing alcohol at dinner and taking
Xanax and Lortab.
•Nacole Buffington Sanders,
23, 784 Borders Road,
Commerce, two counts of steal
ing gasoline. She was picked up
by a Commerce officer after
officials at Flying J travel plaza
provided the tag number and
vehicle description. They said
she’d done the same thing on an
earlier occasion.
•James Lamar King, 28, and
Linda Gail King, 28, both of 205
Brookwood Avenue, Commerce,
disorderly conduct. Police first
arrested J. King when his wife
told police that as they were
drinking margaritas he became
angry, nailed the back door of
the house shut and beat holes
in the wall. When she told him
to leave, the report said, he went
outside and “began to take the
car apart.’’ When police arrested
him, the report said, his wife
became upset and argumenta
tive to the point that she was
also charged with disorderly
conduct.
•Jeremy Adam Langford, 27,
121 Heritage Ave., Jefferson,
driving under the influence of
alcohol, driving with a suspend
ed license, driving too fast for
conditions and failure to main
tain a lane. According to the
incident report, Langford had
just picked up two other men,
at least one of whom was intoxi
cated, but was so intoxicated
himself that he was driving the
opposite direction of where his
passengers wished to go. The
report said he was traveling on
Mt. Olive Road, lost control in
the curve and crashed through a
fence into the property of Roper
Pump Company. The report said
Langford told police that the
Please Turn to Page 8A
3 Officers Treated For Smoke
Inhalation At Stark Street Fire
Three Commerce police offi
cers were treated by EMS per
sonnel for smoke inhalation
Thursday afternoon after they
entered a burning mobile home
to find a man believed to be
trapped inside.
The occupant, Jimmy Chatham,
had managed to escape out the
back of his Stark Street resi
dence on his motorized scooter,
but family and neighbors were
unaware of that when the officers
arrived.
“She was screaming, 'He’s in
there! He’s in there”' said Captain
Chad Knight.
Knight, Sgt. Billy Shane Har rison
and Cpl. Cameron Boswell
arrived at the scene before the
Commerce Fire Department and
entered the back door seeking
Chatham.
“It was fully engulfed when we
got here,’’ Knight said.
“The smoke was bad. You
couldn’t see nothing,’’ Harrison
added.
Boswell said the men had to
feel their way out of the smoke-
filled residence. He also rescued
a small dog, which rewarded him
by biting him on the hand, break
ing the skin before he could hand
it back to another officer.
“What made it interesting was
when some ammunition he
had in there started going off,’’
Knight said. “You could hear it
popping.’’
The officers rescued two
dogs, one of which was taken to
Commerce Veterinary Hospital
for treatment for smoke inhala
tion. The other, a small dog, was
beneath the smoke and did not
appear to be affected, the offi
cers said.
EMS personnel on the scene
treated Knight, Harrison and
Boswell with oxygen for several
minutes.
Chatham said the fire started
when he accidentally turned
over a propane heater, which set
some cardboard boxes on fire.
When he realized he could not
extinguish the blaze, Chatham
said he “drove out’’ of the resi
dence with his scooter.
Fund Started
For Victims
A fund has been established
at the Commerce branch of
Regions Bank to assist the cou
ple whose home was destroyed
by fire last week.
Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Chatham
lost their mobile home and all
their possessions when a pro
pane gas heater fell over and
caught their Stark Street mobile
home on fire last Thursday.
Chatham was treated for
burns to his hands and legs but
did not require hospitalization.
The family had no insurance on
the structure and very little on
the contents, a family member
said.
Persons wishing to assist the
Chatham Family Account may
do so at any Region’s Bank
branch.
Honored For Saving Life
Officer Jeff Rogers, left, receives the Commerce Police Department’s Life Saving Award
for performing the Heimlich Maneuver Oct. 16, saving the life of a man who was choking at
Hardee’s Restaurant. Police Chief John Gaissert, right, presented the medal at Monday night’s
city council meeting.
Designs & Gifts For All Occasions
Fresh Flowers & Silks
Locally Owned & Operated
8200 Jefferson Rd. • [Commerce, GA
706-335-7676 • 706-340-3695
706-335-6548
Free Local Delivery
“ROOF DOCTOR
Roofing & Repair
- Metal
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HOMER CARVER
OFFICE 706-677-1986
CELL 678-617-4503
FAX 706-677-1369
Banks-Jackson Risk Reduction
DUI SCHOOL
336-6777
DEFENSIVE DRIVING
1728 North Broad Street, Commerce, State Certified 5010 and 2007
Next DUI Class begins on January 19, 2008
Next Defensive Driving Class will be held on January 26,2008
Please join us for the
2008 RELAY FOR LIFE KICK-OFF PARTY
for Jackson County
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.
The Jefferson Civic Center
l
▼
RELAY
FOR LIFE
J
Sunday, Monday...
Cancer Free
Tuesday, Wednesday...
Cancer Free
(sung to the tune of
“Happy Days” and will be
sung at Kick-off.
We are “Rock-n-Rollin” Cancer
out of our lives!
Please join us as we CELEBRATE our survivors,
REMEMBER those we’ve lost to cancer and
FIGHT BACK against the disease.
Come learn about how to get involved in the 2008 Relay For Life.
We encourage you to register your team now online at:
http ://events. cancer.org/rflj acksonga
$100 registers 10 members.
Enjoy food, fun and meeting the great folks involved in Relay For Life!
Your RSVP is appreciated. Please call Gail Banks at 706-367-9721 or
Victoria at the ACS office: 706-549-4893
or email: victoria.patrick @cancer.org by Tuesday, January 22, 2008.
Holly Rogers Tax & Accounting
X
■ m \
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1
Commerce, GA
(706) 336-5980
Tax Return Preparation
Free Electronic Filing
Full Service Accounting
Payroll Services
QuickBooks Counsulting
Entity Filing
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