Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by Georgia HomePLACE, a project of the Georgia Public Library Service.
About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
PAGE 6A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016 Crime/Public Safety Commerce Police Department arrests Commerce police incidents Hiding from warrant service leads to obstruction charge A Commerce woman who acknowledged that she had an outstanding warrant from Jackson County got an obstruction charge added for trying to hide from a Com merce police officer. An officer on patrol on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive spotted Karen Stephanie King, 43, 20 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Commerce sitting on the front porch at that address. The officer knew Jackson County had a warrant on King and told her to walk over to him. “Mrs. King said ‘I know,’ and walked into the house,” the officer said in his written report of the arrest. The officer called for her to come back out and when she did not he went into the house. He found her hiding in a bedroom closet. She refused to come out, and he had to pull her out, resulting in the obstmction charge. The report did not include information on the nature of the warrant. Others Charged Other people arrested or cited by Commerce police during the past week include: •Marquez Daeon Sand- ford, 26, 135 Rock Forge Lane, Jefferson, misdemean or possession of marijuana, violation of the open con tainer law and having an unrestrained child in the vehicle. An officer pulled Sandford over on North Broad Street after clocking him doing 47 miles per hour in a 35-mph speed zone. He also observed that the license plate cover was bro ken, obscuring the tag. The officer reported the smell of alcohol, but Sandford blew only a .02 on the roadside alcosensor. The arrest report said Sandford gave verbal permission to search the vehicle, and the officer found a plastic bag of marijuana in the glove box. Both Sand ford and a male passenger denied ownership of the drugs, but Sandford eventu ally told the officer they were his. A 6-year-old male in the vehicle was not wearing a seat belt. The report indicat ed that the passenger was cited for violation of the open container law. •Phillip Dean Bell, 50, 1775 Heatherton Road, Dacu- la, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and violation of the open container law. He was a passenger in a vehicle stopped at 11:30 p.m. on U.S. 441 for doing 75 mph in a 55-mph speed zone. The officer administered a hand held alcosensor breath test to the driver, which produced a reading of .025 grams. During a pat-down, the officer found what he thought was a pipe, and the driver pulled out a metal pipe containing mar ijuana residue. The officer then removed Bell from the vehicle and searched the vehicle, during which he found a half-full can of beer between the passenger’s seat and the passenger-side door and a metal container and pipe containing marijuana, of which Bell claimed own ership. The report indicated that the driver was cited for speeding. • Clifford Justin Peyton, 25, 269 Baugh Street, Commerce, speeding and driving with a suspended driver’s license. An officer pulled Peyton over on State Street for going 75 mph in a 55-mph speed zone. Peyton told the officer that his license was suspended. •Charieigh Ann Thomas, 20, 121 Walnut Street, Com merce, arrested on a Jackson County warrant for theft by deception after she turned herself in at the police station. Banks County Sheriffs Office arrests 7 face drug charges in Banks County The Banks County Sheriff’s Office recently arrested seven people on drug charges. Those arrested and their charges included: • Sharee Rosalee Lunsford, 26, 126 Blackberry Lane, Gillsville, obstmction of law enforcement officers, escape, possession of an open con tainer, driving too fast for conditions, driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs, fail ure to maintain a lane, pos session of marijuana and driv ing without driver’s license on person. •James Harrell Fisher, 20, 13490 Providence Lake Drive, Milton, possession of a Sched ule I controlled substance, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and sale of a Schedule III, IV or V con trolled substance. •Timothy Troy Ward, 52, 2061 Ward Road, Cornelia, possession of methamphet- amine and possession of mar ijuana. •Antwon Devontay Calla way 23, 437 Minor Street, Ath ens, possession of marijuana. • Comeo Nicole Westmore land, 23, 131 Canoe Topper, Big Canoe, possession of mar ijuana. •Joshua Taylor Westmo reland, 21, 131 Tree Topper Circle, Jasper, possession of a Schedule II controlled sub stance. Other Arrests Other recent arrests report ed by the Banks County Sher iffs Office include: •Christopher Keith John ston, 24, 187 Woodland Hills Drive, Jefferson, theft by taking. • Christopher Lawrence Dalton, 37, 172 Mount Sinai Road, Lula, obstmction of law enforcement officers. •Lindsey Alexa Gaby 23, 308 Westover Drive, Asheville, N.C., driving with a suspend ed driver’s license and driving without insurance. •Billy Joe Gragg, 33, 119 Canup Road, Alto, failure to appear. •Reginald Dasean Webb, 25, 1309 Armstrong Circle, Raleigh, N.C., driving with a suspended driver’s license and improper turn. • Dana Alisha Whitlock, 39, 950 Old Ila Road, Hull, proba tion violation. •Charles Haze Ferguson, 19, 395 Ferguson Road, Bald win, theft by taking. •Kadin Jarrard Carian, 19, 796 Barefoot Road, Lula, theft by taking. •Jerald Glenn Aldridge, 23, 121 Apple Pie Ridge Circle, Alto, DUI - alcohol and tag light violation. •Cody Lee Grissom, 24, 2929 Highway 330, Bogart, driving with a suspended driv er’s license, a tail light violation and a tag light violation. •James Trey Kennedy 47, 2847 Rock Quarry Road, Toc- coa, stalking. • Cathy Lynn Bond, 58, 259 Hebron Road, Commerce, simple assault, public drunk enness, public indecency and disorderly conduct. •James Richard Bryson, 56, 784 Highway 59, Com merce, DUI - alcohol and an open container violation. • Christopher Michael Chandler, 43, 729 Borders Road, Commerce, driv ing with a suspended driv er’s license, reckless driv ing, DUI, possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime, pos session of marijuana, aggra vated assault, false imprison ment, terroristic threats and acts, battery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. •Jose Hernandez Barrera, 21,1617 Parr Hill Drive, Gaines ville, driving without a valid driver’s license, an open con tainer violation and failure to maintain a lane. • Devon Brooke Nabors, 35, 260 Pettit Lane, Athens, proba tion violation. •Gustavo Saul Perez, 29, 308 Sutton Cove Court, West minster, S.C., driving without a valid driver’s license and a window tint violation. • Jodi Lee Pressley Jr., 27,16 Landway, Commerce, failure to appear. •Tommy Chester Tench, 38, 217 Church Street, Mays- ville, probation violation. •Thomas Peter Whalen, 61, 653 West Freeman Street, Maysville, DUI - alcohol. • Nathan Shawn Mosley 40, 5479 Highway 63, Toccoa, DUI - alcohol, failure to wear a helmet and failure to maintain a lane. • Clinton Morris Quinn, 46, 18805 Highway 59, Carnesville, aggravated assault, theft by extortion, public drunkenness and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime. • Taylor Lauren Roark, 24, 581 Glenn’s Farm Way, Grayson, theft by shoplifting. Jackson County Sheriffs Office arrests 11 arrested for probation violation Argument over basketball referee leads to attack Dissatisfaction with a referee in a pickup basketball game left one person hospitalized, according to the Commerce Police Department. Staff investigators will investigate the incident that occurred Sunday June 19, on the courts on Ridgeway Drive. An officer met the victim, an adult male, at the emergency room of Northridge Medical Center. He told the officer that several people were playing basketball and that one of the players began making disrespectful remarks about the refer ee, an adult female. The victim said he took up for the referee, and that he and the instigator began a heated argument when the other man’s son came up from behind and struck the complainant in the back of the head. According to the incident report, the victim had a two-inch laceration in the back of his head. The victim said he did not know if his attacker had something in his hand or just used his fist. The referee confirmed that the man’s son hit the victim more than once, but she did not see anything in his hand. The officer referred the matter to the department’s inves tigators. Nursing Home Theft A resident at Hill Haven Nursing Home, Ridgeway Road, told police that someone entered her room and stole her wallet, which contained $82. The administrator said any staff member or patient could enter the room at any time. Lawn Equipment Stolen Police reported three incidents where thieves made off with lawn equipment over the past week. They include: • A Park Street woman said someone stole a push mower valued at $600 from behind a shed in her back yard. The offi cer checked out the area but could find no evidence. •A Piedmont Street man reported that someone stole a push lawnmower off his front porch. The missing mower reportedly had a broken throttle cable and was missing a wheel. The owner said his neighbors reported seeing two suspicious men in the area recently. •At a Madison Street location, a man reported that a leaf blower and a jigsaw were taken from a storage shed. The shed was not locked. The blower was valued at $200 and the jigsaw at $60. Other Incidents Other matters requiring police attention during the past week include: • criminal trespass at the old Fuel Mart, Maysville Road, where someone tried unsuccessfully to break a window after disabling security cameras. Other video cameras may have captured the attempt to break a window by throwing a brick. • damage to property on Ridgeway Street where a woman said she was driving west when something struck her wind shield and caused it to shatter. •the removal of 20 pounds of drugs from the drug drop box in the police department lobby. The evidence custodian and another officer weighed and stored the materials in the evidence room. •an officer-involved traffic accident where an officer stopped at a traffic light at Washington and Elm streets and his vehicle was struck from behind by another. The mishap did not appear to cause any damage to either vehicle, and no citations were issued. •the towing of a 2011 Mazda following a traffic stop near the Boys & Girls Club for suspended registration and driving without insurance. • the towing of a vehicle from the edge of the road at Baugh Street and Brandy Drive where it had been parked for two to three days. After police were unable to contact the owner, they had it towed. The report indicated that the owner came by the police station later that day and inquired about the vehicle. •the towing of a vehicle parked at the stop sign at Hill Street and Homer Street. The tag came back to a Flowery Branch woman, and when police could not locate her, they had the vehicle towed. Commerce police to hold forum on 'use of force' The majority of the arrests made by the Jackson Coun ty Sheriff’s Office in the past week were for probation violation. Eleven of the 21 people arrested were cited for probation violation. Those arrested last week were: • Steven Marco Lester, 31, 1393 Broad River Scenic Drive, Tignall, probation vio lation. • Christopher Brian Meyer, 28, 312 North Bluff Road, Athens, probation vio lation. •Michael Terry William son, 27, 818 Cabin Creek Drive, Nicholson, probation violation. • Richard Douglas Adams, 49, 982 South Broad Street, Commerce, proba tion violation. • Angel Jossue Garcia, 38, 145 Heelstone Avenue, Athens, probation violation. •Brian Kevin Powers, 41, probation violation. •Kathryn Maria Stovall, 33, 102 Creekview Court, Athens, driving with a sus pended driver’s license and probation violation. •Lisa Dine Allen, 36, 4903 Timber Ridge Road, Gainesville, probation vio lation. • Daniel Adam Simmons, 30, 353 Mt. Zion Road, Dan- ielsville, probation violation. • Amanda Nicole Day, 34, 509 Jaden Lane, Winder, probation violation. • Joseph Bradley Kelly, 21, 236 Athens Street, Jefferson, probation violation. •Kurt Owen Heese, 49, 9831 Commerce Road, Athens, driving with a sus pended driver’s license and failure to obey traffic control device. • Marco Antonio Leanos, 20, 3282 Apache Circle, Oakwood, failure to appear. • Ivan Lynn Oliver, 52,235 Sycamore Drive, Athens, failure to appear. • Geraldine Lee Allen, 54, 120 Forest Lake Road, Pendergrass, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug-related object. • Christopher Len Nation, 23, 214 Apple Valley Road, Commerce, driving with a suspended driver’s license and improper exhaust. •Tamala Kay Prather, 1, 958 Hale Road, Maysville, failure to appear. •William Tyrone Hum phrey, 36, 109 Sierra Vista Circle, Cornelia, driving under the influence (DUI) and failure to maintain lane. •Trevious Omar Bugg, 21, 240 Lombardy Circle, Athens, reckless conduct, driving with a suspended driver’s license, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, reck less conduct, reckless driv ing and s safety belt viola tion. •Zachary Ryan Theriot, 26, 2700 Ward Road, Bay- town, Texas, driving in an emergency lane and driving with a suspended driver’s license. • Alice Faye Dean, 61, 530 The Commerce Police Department will hold a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, at the Commerce Police Department. Command staff from the department will present a pro gram on “police use of force,” that is designed to help the public better understand why and how police officers in Commerce use force. “We will discuss the pertinent laws and policies that offi cers operate in compliance with,” explained Lt. Ken Harmon. “We will also discuss how incidents of force are investigated and how the police department insures compliance with applicable laws and policies. We welcome any community member that would like to hear about this topic or to spend some time with officers and Command Staff of the Com merce Police Department.”
