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PAGE 8A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 26. 2008
Gas Instead Of Brakes
A Lincoln Town Car wound up partially inside of a State Street
building being renovated Thursday morning. The driver, Horace
Grady Chandler, told police he meant to hit the brake pedal as he
was parking and hit the gas instead. He was not injured.
Cause Unknown
Police do not know why Randy Lee Brown, 345 Lathan Road,
Commerce, suddenly drove out of the drive-through window of
Region’s Bank, North Elm Street, Monday before he had com
pleted his business transaction. The vehicle crossed North Elm,
glancing off a 2001 Buick Regal driven by Frances Strickland,
jumped the railroad tracks, crossed North Broad Street and
wound up on the front steps of a house 100 yards off the road.
Suspect Taunts Officer; Winds Up In Jail
A Victoria Way man who chal
lenged a Commerce police officer
to catch him if he could and, when
the officer did, said he wasn’t go
ing to jail that night, found himself
proven wrong on both counts.
As a result, Teddy Roosevelt
Butler, 36, 183 Victoria Way, finds
himself in the Jackson County Jail
facing a host of charges.
It all started when the officer
attempted to pull Butler over on
Maysville Road for a taillight vio
lation. According to the officer’s
written account, the driver sped
toward town on Hwy. 98, turned
left onto Old Maysville Road
(running the stop sign at the rail
road tracks), turned left onto Mt.
Olive Church Road where the of
ficer caught up with him, shined
his spotlight on the driver who
“waved at me in a gesture to catch
me if you can.’’
The chase continued onto Mt.
Olive Road, left onto Ridgeway
Road, left onto Bolton Drive and
across Hospital Road — with the
driver running stop signs and
driving on the wrong side of the
road all the way.
After crossing Hospital Road
into Jackson Place Apartments,
the vehicle jumped the curb, at
which time the man named after
a former president exited the ve
hicle and fled into the woods.
The persistent police officer
gave chase, catching up with
Butler about 100 yards into the
woods. The two fought for about
three minutes in the briars and
brambles, during which time “the
driver told me he was not going
to jail tonight,’’ the officer wrote.
Butler was wrong. A backup offi
cer arrived and helped subdue the
suspect.
The first officer went to BJC
Medical Center to have cuts suf
fered during the tussle cleaned.
The other officer, searching But
ler and his vehicle, found pills
identified as Methadone, a wom
an’s wallet determined to have
been stolen at Wal-Mart, another
woman’s pocketbook, several pre
paid phone cards, miscellaneous
jewelry and tools and a number
of telephone chargers.
The case was turned over to in
vestigators to look into possible
theft charges. Meanwhile, Butler
is charged with possession of a
controlled substance, obstruction
of officers, the taillight violation,
fleeing and attempting to elude
police, driving without a license,
driving on the wrong side of the
road, failure to signal for a turn
and failure to stop at a stop sign.
Other Arrests
Others arrested or cited by city
police during the week include:
•Christopher Gifford, 23, 98
McArthur Street, cruelty to chil
dren (two counts), simple battery
under the Family Violence Act,
public drunkenness and disorder
ly conduct following an alterca
tion with his wife, who told police
Gifford had consumed “at least 24
beers’’ that evening. The woman
told police that Gifford entered
the bathroom and attacked his
wife, hitting her so hard that both
wound up in the bathtub. He also
pushed her hard against a wall,
and beat her with both fists, and
when she tried to leave with the
children, he grabbed the infant
carrier — with a 4-month old child
in it — and flung it aside, the re
port said. The woman finally fled
to her mother’s house nearby, and
the man was trying to leave with
their two younger children when
police arrived. The report noted
that when he was booked at the
jail, deputies had to restrain him.
•Christopher W. McDuffie, 18,
RO. Box 765, Homer, aggressive
driving and speeding after he
was allegedly clocked at 85 mph
on the bypass and forced several
vehicles to move over so he could
continue his high rate of speed.
The report said he told the ar
resting officer that he was late for
work after having played golf.
• Misael Janders, 48,935 Homer
Road, Lot 21, Commerce, battery
under the Family Violence Act
after he allegedly struck his wife
in the face while intoxicated. He
allegedly told the arresting offi
cer that he was “just playing with
her.’’
•Jamie Crystal MacDonell, 23,
2804 Six Gun Drive, Gainesville,
on an unspecified Hall County
warrant. She was a passenger in
a vehicle pulled over for a traffic
violation.
•Jeffrey Dean Harris, 42, 780
Shorwood Circle, Toccoa, on a
forgery warrant for Forsyth Coun
ty. He was a passenger in a vehicle
pulled over for a traffic violation.
• Efrain Perez-Martinez, 20,2412
Vessom Avenue, Apt. 11, Durham,
NC, speeding and driving without
a license.
• Manual Salvador Guzman-
Munoz, 26, 1850 Graves Road,
Apt. 215, Norcross, driving with
out a license, riding a motorcycle
without a helmet, no tag and no
insurance.
•Joey Gartrell Wheeler, 27, 346
Fork Road, Gainesville, picked up
in Stephens County on a proba
tion violation warrant.
•Brock Allen Adams, 19, 2411
Bowman Hwy., Dewy Rose,
picked up in Elbert County on a
failure to appear warrant.
•Kayla N. Haley, 20, 739
Parkview Road, Winterville,
picked up in Madison County on
a local warrant.
Gun Course Saturday
The Commerce Police Depart
ment will host a free Ladies Hand
gun Course Saturday, March 29,
in conjunction with The Outdoors
Network.
The event, planned from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m„ will include classroom
and hands-on instruction, and
lunch. Participants need not own
a handgun to attend.
Anyone who is interested should
register at the police department,
South Elm Street.
The course will begin at the La
nier Tech Commerce campus,
also on South Elm Street and will
move to the department’s firing
range later in the day.
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First Annual
Taste of East - A Family Affair
Saturday, April 19, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
East Jackson Comprehensive High School
Band Practice Field
Sponsored by the EJCHS Band Boosters
Family Fun including moonwalk, slides, obstacle
course, carnival games for children, craft vendors,
silent auction (lots of great stuff from our local
businesses), local entertainment and best of all, great
food to be sampled from some of Jackson County’s
Best Restaurants: Shane’s Rib Shack, Papa John’s
Pizza, Redd’s BBQ and Stew, Johnny’s NY Style
Pizza, Supper’s Ready, Cabin Creek BBQ, My Friend’s
Place, Starbuck’s, Cracker Barrel, Sonic Drive-In,
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support of the EJCHS Band for some great fun for the
whole family and a great cause!
Tickets are $10/5 tastes. Tickets are on sale now.
If interested, please call Karen Derochers at 404-983-
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participating as a food or craft vendor, please call
Karen Derochers or Janet McDonald at 706-658-6232.
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Man Not Cut Out
For Home Invasion
A Maysville man who kicked
in the door of an Old Hardin Or
chard Road residence last week
found he wasn’t cut out to handle
the occupants of the house.
Instead, he wound up severely
cut in two places, according to
the Commerce Police Depart
ment report.
That document states that
Dusty Ray Dockery, 26, knocked
on the door of the residence, and
a 50-year-old white male who ap
parently lived there refused to let
him in.
The witnesses said Dockery
kicked in the door and entered,
whereupon he and the older man
began to fight. Unfortunately for
Dockery, the resident picked
up a large kitchen knife and cut
him. The intruder then fled into
another bedroom, where he fell
on top of a 35-year-old white fe
male and asked her for help, the
report said.
When the knife-carrying resi
dent saw him, he thought Dock
ery was trying to harm the wom
an, so he slashed him again, at
which time Dockery exited out
the very door he’d kicked in.
The officer noted that Dockery
had a six-inch laceration in his
head and a large cut on his left
hand, which “almost severed’’
the hand.
Memo: Don’t Pet The Tiger
The juvenile, whose age was
not disclosed, told officials he
was at the Lewis and Clark Cir
cus, which was off South Broad
Street Extension last week,
when he decided to pet one of
the tigers.
The tiger, he said, bit the middle
finger on his left hand. He told
police that no circus employees
were around at the time.
The report indicated that the
police contacted the circus,
where the manager said he’d
heard nothing about such an in
cident. He asked the officer to
have the boy’s mother contact
him.
Other Incidents
Other incidents requiring po
lice attention last week include:
•theft of a Jeep CJ from the
State Street business of its 55-
year-old owner.
•theft of a bicycle from ABC
Pawn, North Broad Street.
•theft of computer items and
tools from a construction trailer
at LaFarge, Old Maysville Road.
Warrants Issued
The police also reported issu
ing warrants for criminal tres
pass and cruelty to children
against a 42-year-old Commerce
man following a dispute with
his estranged wife in which he
broke the mirror off the passen
ger side of the car she was driv
ing and broke her sunglasses as
he tried to grab the garage door
opener out of her car. Two minor
children were in the vehicle at
the time. The suspect was iden
tified as James Michael Vickery,
42, 265 Old Airport Road, Com
merce.
Pedestrian's Death An Accident
The death of a 40-year-old pedestrian on Interstate 85 Sunday
evening has been ruled an accident. Kyle Anthony Waber, 40, was
struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle in the southbound lane of
Interstate 85 near the Maysville Road interchange.
“It was an accident,’’ said coroner Keith Whitfield. “I heard street
talk saying he jumped off the railroad bridge, but he ran across the
road.’’ Whitfield described Waber as “a transient,’’ and said he was
born in California and had been in Carson City, NV. He had no iden
tification on him at the time of his death, and was identified after his
fingerprints were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, accord
ing to a Commerce Police Department incident report.
Officers were looking for Waber at the time of his death. They’d
been summoned to the Citgo convenience store on Maysville Road
at 1-85 in regard to a “suspicious person’’ asking customers for mon
ey. According to the police report, the clerk said the “older white
male’’ may have been living in the woods nearby. Two police officers
searched the woods and found a campsite. The report noted that
officers found a pack of powdered doughnuts and a still-steaming
cup of coffee in the campsite, but their search was interrupted when
dispatch notified them of a wreck on 1-85.
At the accident scene, they found that the pedestrian, who was
dead, matched the description of the “suspicious person’’ they were
seeking.
Banks-Jackson Risk Reduction
DUI SCHOOL
706-336-6777
DEFENSIVE DRIVING
1728 North Broad Street, Commerce, State Certified 5010 and 2007
Next DUI Class begins on March 29, 2008
Next Defensive Driving Class will be held on April 5,2008
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