Newspaper Page Text
Commerce News
JUNE 4,2008 • PAGE 7
Police Arrest Nine On
Battery Charges Last Week
Arsonist Destroys House
A fire started by an arsonist destroyed the former residence of J. Mac Barber on Shankle
Heights late last Tuesday night, May 27, according to Commerce Fire Chief Keith Whitfield. The
vacant structure was fully engulfed in flames when firemen arrived. Whitfield said the fire was
the second in less than a week caused by arson. On Wednesday, May 21, a vacant house and
detached building off U.S. 441 near White Hill School Road was destroyed in a fire set by an
arsonist.
Police Investigate Battery, Theft Cases
It was not a good week for
family relations, according to the
Commerce Police Department,
which arrested nine people in an
array of domestic disputes. Three
of the cases also resulted in cru
elty to children charges because
the disputes occurred in the pres
ence of minors.
Natosha Gail Brock, 19, and
Raymond “Ray” Ortiz, 20, both of
144 Westview Road, Commerce,
were each charged with battery
and second degree child cruelty
following a dispute that — accord
ing to Brock’s grandmother who
owns the residence in which it
took place — is a reoccurring
incident.
According to the report, Brock
claimed Ortiz hit her, and the vic
tim’s grandmother told police that
he’s done it several times before.
The report said Ortiz claimed that
she hit him, bit him and chased
him with scissors.
Two small children witnessed
the incident.
Other Arrests
Others arrested during the past
week include:
•Jermain Allen, 35, 133 Baugh
Street, Commerce, battery and
cruelty to children, following
an argument with a 35-year-old
white female who said he shoved,
grabbed and pushed her in the
presence of a 1-year-old child.
•Kyle Travis Sterry, 26, P.O.
Box 551, Rosebud, Texas, after
witnesses told police they saw
him beating his 30-year-old white
female girlfriend. According to
the report, the two had been
living together for two months
after meeting via the Internet.
The woman, the report said, was
angry that police arrested Sterry
and told them she would stand
up before the judge and “swear
up and down that he didn’t touch
me.”
•Michael Derek Tittle, 21, 299
Shankle Road, Commerce, and
Zackery Lamar Tittle, 19, 212
Cotton Street, Commerce, bat
tery, two brothers who got into an
argument over the loan of a car.
Bulmaro Villanveva Mendoza,
34, 148 Willard Pittman Drive,
Commerce; Marco Stalio Zelaya,
45, 2415 North Broad Street,
Commerce; and Vasques Jhvier
Zelaya, 40, 130 Piedmont Street,
Commerce, all disorderly con
duct and public drunkenness fol
lowing a fight at a Maysville Road
location.
Theft, Drugs And
Back-Seat Sex
It started with the theft of grocer
ies and other items from a parked
car and ended after a hit-and run
accident and two arrests.
It started at 1:50 a.m. at Heritage
Crossing Apartments, when a
30-year-old white female return
ing after shopping could not enter
the apartment complex because
she’d left her key with her daugh
ter. She parked her car outside,
went to her apartment and when
she came back 20 minutes later
found that her groceries, pocket-
book and a walkie-talkie had been
stolen.
Two hours later, an officer
responded to a hit-and-run acci
dent on Duncan Circle. There
were no injuries, and witnesses
told him which direction the car
had gone, and the officer found it
at Bellview Homes.
The incident report said
upon arrival, the officer found
Christina Satin T. Cody, 19, of
3511 Demorest-Mt. Airy Hwy.
face down on the asphalt by the
passenger side of the vehicle —
with one foot still in the vehicle.
Two witnesses said they’d been
with Cody, driving around, and
picked up three black males,
known as “Don,” Tevin and RJ.
The report said Cody regained
consciousness, became hysteri
cal, and told police that she
was not driving at the time
of the accident. She claimed
“Don,” who tuned out to be
Dontavious Contrell Rucker, 18,
of 75 Bennett Street, was driving
at the time of the accident while
she and RJ were having sex in
the back seat. The road trip
also included a visit to the city
pool on Carson Street, where
the men climbed over the fence
but the women couldn’t, leading
to a decision to go to Heritage
Crossing Apartments, where the
theft occurred.
Officers discovered a container
of pills — muscle relaxants — and,
the report said, Cody admitted
stealing them. Officers also found
two Social Security cards stolen
from the earlier incident, along
with the missing purse. Cody
claimed that Rucker had removed
the items from the car.
Cody was charged with posses
sion of drugs, theft by receiving
stolen property, public drunken
ness, underage consumption of
alcohol and leaving the scene of
an accident with damage. Rucker
is charged with entering an auto,
criminal trespass and underage
consumption of alcohol.
Other Arrests
Others arrested or cited during
the past week include:
•Wayne Alfred Owen, 19, 1243
City Pond Road, Barnesville; and
Christopher A. Willoughby, 19,
170 Joe Chambers Road, Forsyth.
Owen was charged with posses
sion of drugs, possession of drug-
related objects, operation of an
unregistered vehicle and a tail-
light violation. Willoughby was
charged with possession of drugs
and possession of drug-related
objects. The charges came after a
traffic stop on Interstate 85.
• Kenneth Barry Feiler, 37, 2509
Dellinger Circle, Charlotte, NC,
speeding and driving with a sus
pended license.
•Johnny Lee Pittman, 32. 56
Martin Luther King Boulevard,
picked up on a probation viola
tion warrant during a domestic
disturbance.
•Bobby Eugene Landress,
34, 328 Steeplechase Road,
Nicholson, driving with an
expired tag and with a suspended
license.
• Yvonne Michelle Brown, 28,85
Carson Street, Commerce, arrest
ed on a warrant from Arcade.
• Stacy Latoya Holder, 24, 258
Charleston Drive, Athens, picked
up in Athens on a failure to appear
warrant.
•Thomas J. Grant, 39,
1634 Beechwood Blvd. NW,
Gainesville, picked up from Hall
County on a warrant.
•Travis Steven Pressley, 27, 71
Red Hill Road, Commerce, giv
ing false information, no insur
ance, improper transfer of a tag,
a failure to appear warrant and a
windshield violation.
•Eddie Willis Sammons, 43, 25
Stark Street, Lot 15, Commerce,
driving under the influence (DUI)
of intoxicants and failure to main
tain a lane.
Commerce police officers
investigated a pair of battery
cases and two thefts during the
past week.
According to the incident
reports, police will issue war
rants for the arrest of William
Thomas Lucas, 43, of P.O. Box
832, Homer, for aggravated
assault and cruelty to children
following an incident at an Old
Maysville Road address.
According to the report, a
26-year-old man with a swol
len eye told police he got into
an argument with Lucas, who
struck him in the face with a
pipe, then hit him multiple times
after he fell.
Other incidents include:
•battery at a Creekside Drive
location in which a 26-year-old
black female said a 32-year-old
black male hit her in the face and
kicked her for refusing to make
her sister leave. She told police
he’s hit her before.
• theft of a black trailer from a
Maysville Road location.
• theft of a bicycle from a Pine
Street yard.
• the loss by a 56-year-old white
female of a wallet she left on the
bumper of her vehicle after buy
ing gasoline at Ingles.
•gun shots reported at an
Elizabeth Street address. Police
confiscated an air pistol from a
14-year-old boy and returned it
to his mother.
•self-mutilation and a sui
cide threat at a Mt. Olive
Road address in which the
Commerce officer, assisting
a Jackson County deputy,
sprayed a 49-year-old white
female with pepper spray as
she tried to cut herself with
a razor blade. She had also
threatened a paramedic with
the razor blade, the report
indicated. She was taken to
BJC Medical Center.
• retention of a driver’s license
by a police officer who forgot to
return it to an Elberton woman
after a traffic stop.
• recovery of a bag containing
a pair of sunglasses and two
boxes of eye medication near the
Commerce post office.
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 June 14, 2008
Next Defensive Driving Class will be held on Tuesday, June 10,2008
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• The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News
• The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal
J)S UNITY LODGE
F & A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwight Wier • 706-367-5882
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. *(706)654-2237
Clay Eubanks, President
260
COMMERCE
AMERICAN LEGION
Commerce Rec. Dept. Post 93
Carson Street - 1st Mon. night
Each Month, 7:30 p.m.
335-6400
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
JEFFERSON
IIP AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 310
White Plains Baptist Church Pd 02/09
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
The Jackson Co. Republican Party
Would like you to meet us for
breakfast the second Sat. of each
month, 8:00 at The Jefferson
House. For more information, call
706-652-2967 or email
fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.n/os
BANKS COUNTY
Hgl AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 pd.06/08
VETERANS OF
FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Mike Buffington, Commander
Phone 706-335-6532 253
JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706)367-1400
Mark Bradley, President
260
RE-ELECT
JODY THOMPSON
District 2 Commissioner
*V(Uce
Meet & Greet
June 26 • Little Italy in Commerce
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Light refreshments will he served!
Vote for the future you
want for your family. I vote
every meeting for the best
for all of us. Support me in
my next term!
fa% t&c
S Controlled spending
V' Supported initiatives to construct a new
hospital in Commerce
V' Fought for more animal control
V' Paved more roads in District 2 than ever before
V' Supported the library
V' Provided economic development roads
V' Instituted measures to ensure bidding
Intersection and dangerous road improvements
• Certified County Commissioner
• Graduate of Leadership Jackson
• Completed Leadership Courses with the Association of County
Commissioners of Georgia
• Member, Commerce Area Business Association & Chamber of Commerce
• Pursuing degree at Lanier Tech; President’s List for academic excellence
• Jody and his wife, Brandy, have two children,
7-year-old Natalie and 3-year-old John Aubrey
• Graduate of Jackson County High School
*Votc fa*t octette:
s Proactive land use without
political influence
v' Improving our economic
development
v' Completing a much needed
animal shelter
v' Consistency on the Board,
no time loss for training
v' Smart growth with
affordable housing options
v' Finding new revenue
sources to relieve taxpayers
*Vote fa* tHe ‘Pest&eot:
s A devoted father
v' Lifelong resident
v' Educated in leadership and
management
v' Independent thinker,
no political affiliations
v' Responds to citizens
r
V
*Vote tyoctty *76omfr&tM, a fistoueet record
attd t&e voice o£ recuoa fat t&e feeofete.
Paid for by the candidate. 706-335-0872 • 40 Chantilee St., Commerce, GA 30529
electjody@gmail.com
A
J