Newspaper Page Text
Commerce News
JULY 23,2008 • PAGE 7
Commerce Police Department Arrests
Store Records Help Ingles Nab Shoplifters
Former Local Doctor
Apparent Drowning Victim
Near St. Augustine, Florida
If you’re going to shoplift, don’t
do it at a store where you’ve left
your name and address.
According a report at the
Commerce Police Department,
that’s exactly what landed three
people in jail on charges of shop
lifting at Ingles.
According to the officer’s
account, he was summoned to
Ingles, Hwy. 334, by a manager
who showed him the store surveil
lance tape of three people leaving
the store with a pair of DVDs. The
tape allegedly showed one of them
handing the merchandise around
the store’s theft detector to one of
the others, after which the three
got into a vehicle and left.
The manager was able to provide
police with a name and address
because the suspects had rented
movies in the past. The officer
drove to 31 Cole Court where he
confronted Matthew Scott Hall,
34, and Angela McCandless, 27,
both of that address; and Ashley
Nicole Timms, 18, of 298 South
Main Street, Jonesboro.
The officer reported that none
of the three could account for the
two DVDs, which he recovered.
Each, he said, said they thought
the others had paid for it.
The officer took McCandless
back to the store because she
hoped to explain the “mistake”
and pay for the DVDs. Her expla
nation was that the suspects cir
cumvented the security system
so it wouldn’t “beep” but were
coming back in to pay for the
merchandise — “Bob the Builder:
The Three Muskettrucks,” and
“Summertime Fun.”
The manager didn’t buy
McCandless’ explanation, so the
three were charged with theft by
shoplifting.
Other Incidents
Others arrested by Commerce
police during the past week
include:
•Eddie Willis Sammons, 43, 25
Stark Street, Lot 15, Commerce,
driving under the influence (DUI)
of alcohol and failure to maintain
a lane. The latter offense caught
the officer’s attention, and upon
making the traffic stop, he said he
noticed Sammons’ bloodshot eyes
and slurred speech. The officer said
Sammons admitted drinking earli
er, “but was not drunk” Two tests of
blood/alcohol content suggested
otherwise, the officer noted.
•Donald Lee Terry, 41,
283 Harden Orchard Road,
Commerce, battery under the
Family Violence Act after he alleg
edly punched his wife as she was
driving and they were arguing.
•John Arthur Winters, 56, 2903
Hwy. 59, Commerce, drinking in
public, after an officer spotted
him walking while drinking a beer.
When he approached Winters,
the officer reported that Winters
said, “C’mon, it’s just a swallow
left.”
• Betty S. Gibbs, 46,935 Homer
Road, Lot 10, Commerce, on a pro
bation violation warrant from the
Commerce Police Department. A
caller tipped the police that she
was at the residence.
• Wyatt Benton Hooper, 25, P.O.
Box 145, Maysville, driving with a
Commerce Police Investigate 3 Thefts
The Commerce Police
Department reported only three
incidents last week, all of them
theft-related and two of them at
the Flying J Travel Plaza on Hwy.
98 at Interstate 85.
Both of those were for people
who stole gasoline.
In the first incident Friday, some
one drove off without paying for
$20 worth of gas. Then, Saturday,
someone left without paying for
$50 in gasoline.
In both cases, the clerks could
provide no description of the
vehicles or suspects, but prom
ised officers that the transactions
would be on the store’s security
videos.
The other incident was at
Commerce 76, South Elm Street,
where the owner reported that a
bucket for a Toyota “skid steer”
had been stolen from behind the
store, along with a battery rack
and miscellaneous metal.
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suspended license and playing his
radio too loudly. According to the
report, the officer was stationary
on Homer Road and could hear
loud music from the approach
ing vehicle. He pulled it over and
found that the driver’s license
was suspended for DUI. Hooper
told the officer he had a permit to
drive to and from work, but since
he’d admitted to having a beer at
a Banks Crossing restaurant prior
to the stop, the officer told him
he was in violation of that permit.
The report also said the officer
found a pipe in the vehicle, which
Hooper admitted using that morn
ing to smoke marijuana.
•Joseph Louyed Vaughn, 34,
229 McArthur Street, Commerce,
disorderly conduct after he alleg
edly became loud and abusive
when the officer questioned him
about threats made against a
Williford Street man.
• Michelle Lynne Underhile, 30,
91 South Broad Street Extension,
Commerce, driving without a
license, use of a license plate to
conceal the identity of a vehicle,
no insurance and driving with an
expired tag. The incident began
when an officer ran her tag and
found it to be expired. When
he stopped her, the report said
Underhile told the officer, “I do
not have my license on me, but
I do have a license.” The Georgia
Crime Information Center com
puter said otherwise. The officer
also ran the number of the tag
decal and reported that it came
back to a vehicle owned by a
company in Cornelia. The report
indicated the officer planned to
see if the decal was stolen.
The body of a former
Commerce physician was
recovered from the Intercoastal
Waterway near St. Augustine
last weekend.
Officials said a swimmer dis
covered the body of Joe Roy
Wardlaw, 59, about half a mile
south of a boat he’d bought in
May. Wardlaw retired in June.
There was no indication of
foul play.
Wardlaw’s tenure in Commerce
was colorful, to say the least. He
arrived in the late 1980s, set
ting up practice as an obstetri
cian/gynecologist. In 1991 he
reportedly performed the first
video laser hysterectomy in
Georgia outside Atlanta — at
BJC Hospital.
Things turned sour in 1992
when a 23-year-old patient
charged that Wardlaw had raped
her during an office visit. She
dropped the charges 10 days
later and told police that her
husband forced her to partici
pate in a plot to accuse Wardlaw
in the hope of extorting money.
Wardlaw subsequently closed
his office and later opened an
office in Toccoa. In 1994 he
was arrested for shooting his ex-
father-in-law in Gwinnett County.
In 1995, Wardlaw made the news
again, when the Composite State
Board of Medical Examiners sus
pended his license to practice
amid allegations that the doc
tor had abused alcohol, and a
Toccoa church refused to allow
Wardlaw and his fiancee to use
its facility for a wedding.
“Are You Tired of
Status Quo Government? ”
■ i mntiri
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Sggg I
Supports Freezing Property Taxes
Fiscally Responsible to Taxpayers
Efficient and Effective Government
R
espects All Jackson County Citizens
xperienced Public Servant
It’s All About Experienced Leadership!
Ron Johnson Is Committed to Making
A Difference in Jackson County
Ron Johnson has proven record of outstanding leadership.
Consider:
Ron PROMISED to cut the fat and reduce the taxes. As a city councilman, taxes were
substantially reduced and services were actually increased.
Ron VOWED to improve budgeting policies to further reduce taxpayers burdens,
initiated policies that lowered the prices of City owned natural gas company.
Ron
Ron PROMISED to open government to all of the people. His efforts resulted in council
meetings being made available to all citizens through local television.
Ron has PROMISED to be available to all of his constitutes. Ron has made his cell phone
number and e-mail address readily available and returns ALL calls.
A LEADER MUST HAVE COMMITMENT.
Ron Johnson has a proven record of commitment.
Consider:
RON HAS PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE as his commitment to community service as a
decorated Marine and Army soldier in combat for his country, as a civil servant in city
government.
VOTE FOR RON JOHNSON
A man of action, not expensive studies. A man of promises fulfilled. A man of the people.
A MAN WHO HAS EARNED YOUR TRUST
Please vote August 5 for Ron Johnson...
Thank you!
Cell Phone Number: 770-310-4515 Email Address: chairman@windstream.net
5*'- Skd
mRON JOHNSON
HI
REPUBLICAN for CHAIRMAN
Experienced Leadership for Jackson County
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE
Sugar Hill City Council Member & Mayor Pro Tern
Chairman Republican Veterans of Georgia
Vice Chair Sugar Hill Housing Authority
State Delegate Jackson County Republican Party
Executive Member and State Delegate Gwinnett
County Republican Party
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
Helped build two handicap playgrounds for local
elementary schools without using school or PTO
funds
Was a reader for Read Across America and
Challenged Children
Coached high school football for Christian/Home
School League in Georgia
Participated as a Junior Achievement Teacher for
2nd and 3rd grade (Received citation from Gov.
Perdue for this work)
EDUCATION
Master of Education - Cambridge College
Bachelor of Law Enforcement - Western New
England College
Certificate of Excellence for Elected Officials -
The Harold F. Holtz institute at UGA -126 Hours
Georgia Municipal Association Leadership Course
Georgia Academy for Economic Development
Leadership Course
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