Newspaper Page Text
On The Record
The
Commerce News
SEPTEMBER 24,2008
PAGE 7 A
Fight At Card Game
Leads To Two Arrests
A fight over a card game
led to two arrests and six
charges last week, accord
ing to the Commerce
Police Department.
Police responded to
a Hill Street location
for report of “damage
to property" in which
they were told people
were "beating on a car"
and that shots had been
fired.
Advised by dispatch that
a white Cadillac Escalade
was leaving the scene
driven by someone who
fired a gun, police pulled
the vehicle over. The driv
er was Spacy Matthew
Anderson, 40, 391 Hill
Street, Commerce, and
the police found a .38
caliber pistol and box of
ammunition.
The police report indi
cated that Anderson and
Vernard Gillespie, 35,
of 285 Bennett Street,
were playing cards and
got into an argument.
As Anderson left, the
report said, Gillespie
struck his vehicle with
a stick, Anderson exited,
the two fought and then
separated. Witnesses
said that when Gillespie
approached Anderson
again, Anderson pulled
a gun, fired a shot into
the air and left, where
upon Gillespie went to
Anderson's house and
began striking Anderson's
Mercedes with a stick.
Anderson was charged
with carrying a con
cealed weapon, discharge
of a firearm and affray;
Gillespie was charged
with aggravated assault,
criminal damage to prop
erty and affray.
Other Arrests
Others arrested or cited
by city police during the
past week include:
•John Cox Barber, 48,
214 S. 5th Street, Paris,
AZ, terroristic threats,
public drunkenness and
aggravated assault; and
James Dean Truitt, 23, 707
S. Alford, Crane, Texas,
aggravated assault and
public drunkenness. The
charges stemmed from
an altercation at Country
Boys RV, Mt. Olive Road,
in which the two alleg
edly yelled racial slurs
at a 45-year-old Latino
female and her husband
as they walked their dog.
According to the report,
Barber had made such
slurs against the woman
on two previous nights,
but on the night of the
incident he allegedly told
her "I will kill you. This
is my land and you don't
belong." The two then
allegedly attacked her
husband. The woman
responded by strik
ing Barber in the head
twice with a metal flash
light. Barber and Truitt
denied making racial
slurs, but three witnesses
confirmed the victim's
version of the incident.
Barber was treated at BJC
Medical Center. The vic
tim's husband was taken
to St. Mary's Hospital,
Athens.
•John Eric Murphy,
22, 725 Sanders Road,
Cumming, picked up
in Forsyth County on a
probation violation war
rant.
•Mickey Morris Jr.,
26, 801 Belmont St.,
Commerce, aggravated
assault, simple battery
and criminal trespass.
The charges came after
he and his wife got into
an argument that esca
lated to the point that he
began choking her, the
victim said. The woman
said he pulled a knife
and threatened to kill
her. The report said there
had been a prior incident
of domestic violence as
well.
• Stella Danielle Cooper,
23, 1437 Joe Bolton Road,
Commerce, arrested on a
failure to appear warrant
after she was pulled over
for a tag light violation.
•Benjamin James
Bennett, 23, 479 Hillside
Way, Maysville, driv
ing with an expired tag
and with a suspended
license.
• Ronald Dunlap, no
age given, 3261 Glenco
Drive, Decatur, picked
up at the Dekalb County
Jail on an unspecified
warrant.
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Fire Guts Madison County Home
A Wednesday morning house fire gutted the home of Robert and Lisa Kent
of 231 Minish Cemetery Road in Madison County. Officials said the blaze was
likely started by a clothes dryer. The Kents, who were not at home when the
fire started, lost everything in the house. Above, Commerce firemen battle the
blaze.
Threats, Violence From Relationships
Lead To Eight Calls For Police Intervention
Thursday Wreck
Kills Baldwin Man
Threats and violence
from ex-lovers and jeal
ousy over past or pres
ent relationships resulted
in eight calls for service
to the Commerce Police
Department during the
past week.
They include the follow
ing:
•a 17-year-old white
female claimed she was
beaten up on Bennett
Street by three black
females who apparently
did not like the fact that a
16-year-old black male was
sitting in the car with her
talking to her. The victim,
who added that she "was
possibly pregnant" at the
time, said they punched
her and pulled her hair.
•terroristic threats and
acts at a Mt. Olive Road
location where a 30-year-
old white female said her
soon-to-be-ex-husband
threatened to kill her.
The officer responded to
the scene in time to take
a call on the woman's
phone from the suspect,
a 27-year-old white male.
When the officer iden
tified himself, the caller
hung up.
• a complaint by a
16-year-old black female
that an 18-year-old black
female tried to run her
over on Bennett Street.
The alleged perpetrator
and three black females in
the car with her all denied
the allegation and said the
complainant had been
"mouthing" at them.
• a complaint by a
40-year-old black male
that another black male
had threatened to kill
him. The threat was relat
ed to a case in which both
the complainant and vic
tim were charged after a
dispute.
• harassing calls at a U.S.
441 location in which a
32- year-old black female
said that a 33-year-old
black female had called
the victim's telephone
service to have it termi
nated. The victim said
the issue at heart was the
fact that they both dated
the same man four years
earlier.
• battery at a Homer
Road address in which a
29-year-old black female
said she was at the Huddle
House with her soon-to-
be-ex-husband, who,
being drunk, made a
scene, forcing the two to
leave before they could
eat. The woman said the
man grabbed the steering
wheel, nearly causing the
vehicle to strike a dump
ster, grabbed her by the
throat and threatened to
hit her.
•battery and cruelty to
children at a North Broad
Street location where a
33- year-old white female
told police that when she
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asked her roommate, a
22-year-old white female
to pay her share of the
rent and utilities, the
younger woman began
shoving her and cursing
her in front of two minor
children.
• harassing calls at a
Cedar Drive address where
a 35-year-old black female
said a 32-year-old black
female had been calling
and texting her for two
days. The victim said the
woman had dated her sis
ter's ex-boyfriend.
Other Incidents
When police weren't
refereeing or cleaning up
after relationship issues,
they investigated a num
ber of other cases. Among
them:
•theft by taking at a
Ridgeway Street address
in which a 34-year-old
black male said someone
stole his Nissan Maxima,
the keys of which had
been left in the vehicle's
center console.
• criminal trespass at
Heritage Hills Apartments
where a 26-year-old white
female reported that two
male juveniles urinated
on her vehicle.
• criminal trespass at
a Lathan Road location
where a 41-year-old white
female reported that
someone broke out the
back window of her Jeep
Cherokee, doing $250 in
damage.
• motor vehicle theft
reported at Resurrection
Automotive, Maysville
Road, where someone
apparently drove through
the gate and stole a 1976
Jeep CH5. A witness later
told police she saw the
vehicle on the back of a
black roll-back truck.
•theft by taking at the
Commerce Elementary
School parking lot where
a woman said someone
stole a billfold from her
car. She gave police the
name of a suspect.
• theft by taking at
Wood's Barber Shop, lla
Road, where someone van
dalized a Pepsi machine,
taking about $250 in
coins and bills and $100
worth of beverages. The
officer noted that similar
incidents had occurred in
Jefferson.
•theft of $163 worth of
"racing gasoline" at the
Citgo station, Maysville
Road, by two young white
males. The two used an
American Express card to
convince the clerk to acti
vate the pump, but the
card turned out to have
been stolen and deacti
vated.
• burglary at Haynes
Auto Parts, Harris Street,
in which someone pried
a latch off a door and
stole five catalytic con
verters.
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A 55-year-old Baldwin man was killed early Thursday
morning when he was ejected from his vehicle in an
accident in the southbound lane of Interstate 85 about a
mile north of Maysville Road. The accident occurred at
about 6:05 a.m.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, Paul Phillip
Gwynn’s 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe was struck in the rear
by a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. The collision caused Gwynn’s
vehicle to flip, ejecting Gwynn.
No charges have been levied pending the completion of
an investigation by the GSP’s Specialized Reconstruction
Team, a spokesman for the patrol said.
The accident closed the southbound lane of 1-85 until
late Thursday morning.
Local Man Arrested In
Hall Co. Drug Operation
A Commerce man was among 34 suspects indicted last
week, in an undercover drug operation conducted by the
Multi Agency Narcotics Unit in Hall County.
Ricky Loggins, 52, was charged with possession of
methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
“The indictments are a culmination of an undercover
drug investigation, which began in early summer by
agents with the Hall County Multi Agency Narcotics
Squad and the Gang Task Force,” a news release report
ed. “Agents utilized undercover operatives to make a
number of drug purchases from individual drug dealers
throughout Hall County.”
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