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Commerce News
PAGE 6B-JULY 9,2008
Commerce Police Department Arrests
Night Shift Accounts For Most Arrests
“Suspicious” behavior by a
pair of motorists led to a pair of
charges during a week in which
most of the Commerce Police
Department’s arrests were made
by the graveyard shift.
Robert Wilson Cowles Jr. of
Toccoa found himself charged with
obstruction of officers and driving
in violation of his limited driving
permit after his behavior led an
officer to further investigation.
The first tip-off was a wide turn
from South Broad Street onto Ila
Road, in which Cowles almost
hit the officer, according to the
officer’s written report. That gave
the officer reason to follow the
vehicle at 12:15 a.m.
The vehicle led the officer down
Harris Street and back to Hwy.
98, then over to Ingles, where it
pulled into a parking space and
just sat there. The officer thought
that was peculiar, given that the
store was closed, so he pulled up
behind the vehicle and got out.
The driver, later identified as
Cowles, exited the vehicle and
ran away, but the officer did not
give chase because there were
other occupants of the vehicle,
both juveniles, who were not
charged but were taken to the
police station.
Some time later, Ingles employ
ees called to notify police that
the person they’d been seeking
was beside the store. The report
said Cowles, missing his shirt
and shoes, was arrested without
incident.
A vehicle parked at the Potter’s
House at 12:55 a.m. also roused
suspicion, so an officer pulled
up behind it, at which time it
attempted to leave.
The officer successfully stopped
it, and asked Steven Wesley
Andrews, 37, of 140 Tanglewood
Drive, Anderson, SC, what he
was doing.
The man said he was looking
for his wedding ring, which he
thought he had accidentally put in
one of the bags he’d dropped off
at the thrift store.
Unfortunately for Andrews, the
officer found out he was driv
ing with a suspended license and
cited him.
Other Arrests
Others arrested during the past
week include:
•John Buddy Pyler, 41, 2100
Steele Street, Monroe, NC, pos
session of less than an ounce of
marijuana. He was pulled over at
12:33 a.m. on Interstate 85.
•Julio Sandoval Delacriz, 19,
180 Faulkner Road, Commerce,
failure to maintain a lane, a seat
belt violation, a child safety viola
tion and driving with a suspended
license. When he was pulled over
at 1:21 a.m. on 1-85, the report said
he first claimed he must have left
his license at home, then claimed
he had only a Mexican driver’s
license. The officer discovered
that he had a Georgia driver’s
license, but it was suspended.
•Trevis Lamar Thurmond, 21,
189 McNeese Drive, Greenville,
SC, trafficking in marijuana, driv
ing with a suspended license and
failure to maintain a lane. The
lane violation attracted the offi
cer’s attention at 1:00 on 1-85
northbound, but when the officer
talked to Thurmond, he noticed
the smell of marijuana, according
to the incident report. According
to the report, Thurmond told the
officer he and his cousin were on
the way back from dropping his
(Thurmond’s) sister off at Georgia
Tech in Atlanta. When the offi
cer asked the cousin’s last name,
however, Thurmond could not
provide it. Nor could he provide
the name of the owner of the
vehicle. The officer noted that
Thurmond, when asked if there
was anything illegal in the vehicle,
broke eye contact as he replied
in the negative. A search of the
passenger compartment yielded
nothing, but the officer indicated
that the smell of marijuana got
stronger in the back seat. When
the officers opened the trunk,
they found a large black plas
tic bag under the spare tire, the
report said. Inside that bag they
found “numerous” smaller plas
tic bags containing marijuana.
A check on Thurmond and the
passenger’s information revealed
that he and the passenger both
had suspended South Carolina
driver’s licenses. The passenger
was not charged, the report indi
cated, because Thurmond told
the officer that the younger man
(who was actually his cousin) had
nothing to do with the marijuana.
•Jamie Lee Love, 23, 1302
Saddle Horn Trail, Macon, driv
ing with a suspended license,
failure to maintain a lane, misde
meanor possession of marijuana,
fleeing and attempting to elude
police, operating a vehicle with a
suspended registration and driv
ing without insurance. He was
charged after a brief chase that
started when the officer tried
to pull the vehicle over for the
lane violation charge after it had
turned off U.S. 441 northbound
onto Ila Road toward town at 2:00
a.m. The report said Love contin
ued onto Madison Street, turned
right on Shankle Road, turned
onto Barber Street and stopped
at a residence. The officer said
he “presented my duty weapon”
and made the arrest. It also said
he recognized Love as someone
who had fled from him on an
earlier date when the vehicle in
which Love was a passenger was
pulled over for a traffic violation.
The report said the officer dis
covered a partially smoked mari
juana cigarette in the ash tray and
two sets of scales.
•Tonya Leann King, 29, 135
Hebron Court, Commerce, viola
tion of the limited driving permit
and a tag light violation. The offi
cer noted that under her limited
permit after a drunk driving con
viction, King was supposed to
drive only to and from work. He
observed that she had a 12-pack
of beer and groceries in the vehi
cle at the time of the traffic stop.
•Benedi Depaz, 25, 500
Kathwood Drive, Apt. 4, Athens,
driving without a license.
Bank Deposit Lost In Snatch-&-Grab At Bank
The deposit from a local restau
rant never made it to the bank
one morning last week.
According to the Commerce
Police Department, a 64-year-
old white female employee of
Hardee’s Restaurant was in the
parking lot of Region’s Bank,
North Elm Street, when an
unidentified white male reached
into the car, snatched the depos
it bag, ran to a vehicle parked
behind the bank and drove away.
The only description of the
culprit was “a thin white male,”
but police hoped that the bank’s
surveillance system might have
photographed the incident.
That marks the second time in
two weeks in which a bank cus
tomer was victimized.
The week before, a woman
leaving the drive-through of First
Commerce Bank was at the red
light by the bank when two black
males hijacked her vehicle and
forced her to drive to Athens.
Other Arrests
City police investigated eight
other incidents of theft or
attempted theft during the past
week.
They include:
•a burglary at Commerce
Dental Center, Bill Anderson
Boulevard, in which the owner,
a 53-year-old white male, said
someone broke into the build
ing and removed files from the
office, along with $100 in cash,
some topical anesthesia and
some Clorox erasers. The victim
said he had been working on
embezzlement cases against two
former employees, and those
files were among the missing
documents.
•theft by taking at a Mount
Olive Road location where a
66-year-old white female told
police that she had placed a $ 130
check for payment in her mail
box, only to have someone drive
up and remove the check.
• theft by taking at a Charleston
Avenue location where a black
female reported that seven
lounge chairs had been stolen
from the community pool. The
officer noted that the gate around
the pool was “coded” and there
was no sign of forced entry.
•criminal trespass at a Martin
Luther King Drive residence in
which a 72-year-old black male
awakened to find a 32-year-old
black male he knows removing
the window air conditioner unit.
When the perpetrator saw the
victim move, he left, and the
victim told police he decided to
see if the thief would come back.
He did, and as the thief entered
through the now-vacant window,
the victim asked him what he
was doing. The man replied he
was “getting something to eat,”
and when the victim asked him
why he didn’t just come through
the door, the thief went out the
door and left. The victim identi
fied the man but said he did not
want to press charges.
•theft by taking at a Cedar
Drive location where a 70-year-
old black male told police that
someone “cut” the air condition
er from a rental house.
•battery and cruelty to chil
dren at a Clayton Street address.
The report said a juvenile white
male came to the police depart
ment to say his mother had
stabbed herself. According to
witnesses, the white female got
into an argument with a 22-year-
old white female and pulled
some of her hair out. She then
grabbed a knife and threatened
to hurt herself. The witness said
she went into a room with the
knife and locked herself in. A
witness removed the hinges
from the door to enter and tried
to take the knife away. During
the struggle, the woman stabbed
herself three times in the leg, the
report said.
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Gas Thieves Strike 4
Times During Past Week
The price of gasoline may
be increasing the frequency of
the theft of gasoline, accord
ing to the Commerce Police
Department.
The department reported four
“gas drive-offs” last week, three
of them at the Flying J Travel
Plaza on Maysville Road.
Two of those cases happened
within minutes of each other
and allegedly involved the
same vehicle and suspect.
Details were scarce, but store
personnel said a suspect in a
white Ford Explorer managed
to strike twice within a minute.
They reported that the store
security system captured the
events on video and provided
a tag number, but there was no
indication of the value of gaso
line taken.
In another case at the Flying
J, someone stole $54 worth of
gasoline. There was no descrip
tion of the thief or the vehicle,
but the report indicated that
there may be photographs of
the incident from the security
system.
The other case took place at
the Ingles gas station, located
on Highway 334 at the oppo
site end of town from the
Flying J.
According to the report, a
white female pumped $31.03
into a silver four-door Pontiac
and drove off without paying.
Vandals Spray Paint
Cars In Braselton
JEFFERSON - Four Braselton
residents reported last week to
the Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office that someone spray-
painted vehicles parked at their
residences. Incidents were
reported on Robert Drive and
Mandy Fane.
Another Mandy Fane resident
reported that someone spray-
painted his fence. Other vandal
ism reported in the Braselton
area last week includes a report
from a Mandy Fane resident
that someone threw a ladder and
several crates into her pool.
Other Incidents
Other incidents reported to
the sheriff’s office last week
were:
•verbal dispute between a
married couple at a Cedar Trail,
Commerce, address.
• battery during a dispute
between a married couple at an
Athens Hwy. location.
•eight fishing poles and two
tackle boxes taken from an
Ansley Fane, Athens, address.
• identity theft against an East
Fork Fane, Pendergrass, resi
dent.
•notary stamp taken from a
vehicle parked at a Brockton
Oaks, Jefferson, address.
•a Maysville woman said a
man beat her up. She called 911
after escaping from him.
•wreck involving a deer at a
Hwy. 129 location.
• mailbox damaged at a
Mt. Olive Road, Commerce,
address.
• dispute between several
people at a Red Oak Road,
Maysville, location.
•two bicycles taken from a
Pine Ridge Place, Nicholson,
address.
• a Thyatira-Brockton Road
man said someone kicked in his
basement door. Nothing was
taken.
•a Magnolia Pointe Drive,
Jefferson, man said his sun
glasses were stolen from his
truck while it was parked in his
yard.
• trespassing at a Cedar Rock
Road, Hoschton, residence.
• illegal dumping at a Dry Pond
Road, Commerce, address.
•saw, drill and battery char
ger taken from a Fauren Marie
Drive, Braselton, location.
•fence damaged at a Creek
Nation Road, Jefferson,
address.
•attempted shoplifting at a
Commerce Road, Athens, busi
ness.
•trespassing at a Donahoo
Road, Maysville, residence.
• concrete and metal fell from
a vehicle parked at a Hwy. 53
business and damaged another
vehicle.
•a Delaperierre Circle,
Braselton, woman said some
one “keyed” her vehicle.
• a Talmo woman said a
woman she knows has been
harassing her through the mail.
• church van fire at Mtn. Creek
Baptist Church.
•copper wire taken from a
home under construction at a
Walnut River Trail address.
•a Silver Dollar Road,
Maysville, woman said two dogs
came onto her property and
killed her dog.
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