WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
THE COMMERCE NEWS • THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 7A
Send in the clowns: Clown sightings cause fear
By Alex Pace
A clown costume may not
be the best option for Hallow
een this year. Numerous peo
ple have reported sightings
of “creepy” clowns across
the country and in Jackson
County. That has concerned
some local law enforcement
officials.
People may just be clown
ing around — or maybe trying
to promote the new verstion
of Stephen King’s clown-hor
ror movie, “It,” but Jackson
County Sheriff Janis Mang-
um said she is taking these
reports seriously.
Two people reported
clown sightings in West Jack-
son over the past two weeks.
In one incident, a woman
called the Jackson County
Sheriffs Office around 9 p.m.
saying her daughter had spot
ted a clown off the road.
The woman’s daughter
was traveling on Hwy. 60
northbound at the 1-85 over
pass when she reportedly
saw a clown at the edge of
the woods. Officers searched
the area, but were unable to
locate the clown.
Later in the week, a man
reported seeing two clowns
near his Station Drive, Pen
dergrass, residence. He told
officers the clowns were
standing in the wooded area
across from his house before
they abruptly ran further into
the woods and disappeared.
He said it was his first time
seeing them and assumed it
was juveniles attempting to
prank someone.
“It should be noted that
while I was speaking to (the
man), I observed a moderate
odor of alcoholic beverage
on his person that intensified
when he spoke,” the officer
wrote in the incident report.
Officers did not locate any
clowns, but extra patrol was
assigned in the area.
The local incidents are
just a couple in a recent
spike of clown sightings
reported throughout the
country. Children report
ed that clowns tried to
lure them into the woods
in Greenville County, S.C.,
in late August. Various
sightings have since been
reported in at least 10 states
throughout the country.
The stories have received
national attention and many
have gone viral on social
media. The local social
media response on the
clown sightings has been
mixed, with some saying the
clowns will wind up getting
hurt. Others have comment
ed on the absurdity of the
public’s reactions.
“Let me see if I get this
right: If I were to dress up as
a clown, I would be a threat
to public safety and would
be arrested?” asked one.
“Are you people out of your
minds?”
One person said the prank
sters are ruining the fun of
professional clowns who
entertain at birthday parties
and special events.
“We’re in a sad state when
we ruin one of the greatest
treasures our country has,”
said another. “The ability
to be a clown and bring joy
and entertainment to special
groups, children and parties
was, and I say ‘was’ because it
has been mined, a true Amer
ican treasure. How sad.”
Others have asked the
pranksters to stop, since
they are scaring children and
adults. Prank or not, sever
al incidents in other parts of
the country have resulted in
arrests, both for disorderly
conduct and for threats.
It’s not illegal to dress as a
clown, but Sheriff Mangum
said she’s concerned about
the intent behind it. The inci
dents may be pranksters try
ing to scare people around
Halloween, but Mangum said
the JCSO is taking them seri
ously.
“We want to be notified if
someone sees one coming
out of the woods to scare
them so we can investigate,”
she said.
Mangum said she’s con
cerned the creepy clowns
are scaring children and said
she’s worried they may cause
a traffic hazard if they’re walk
ing into the roadway.
But Mangum noted there
are also repercussions for
someone who falsely reports
a clown sighting.
Several people have been
arrested in other parts of
the country for making false
reports. Two people were
arrested in Troup County after
reportedly admitting they
falsely reported clown sight
ings to authorities, according
to the LaGrange Daily News.
False reports drain resourc
es as deputies are assigned
to investigate a case that isn’t
real, according to Mangum.
The consequences for
Jackson County “clowns” will
largely depend on the indi
vidual situation, said Mang
um. She said the JCSO will
likely have to investigate the
incidents on a case-by-case
basis and noted the situation
is new to them.
Commerce Police Department incidents
Comerce police referee domestic dispute
Officers of the Commerce
Police Department broke up
a domestic dispute last Sat
urday at the Belview Homes
housing project. They did
not file any charges due to
difficulty ascertaining who
was the aggressor.
The first officer to arrive
found two women — a moth
er and a daughter — yelling at
each other in the parking lot.
He instructed one of them
to go inside while he talked
to the other, and while he
concluded that the two had
been in a fight, along with a
third party, he could not tell
who started the fight.
There were allegations
that one of the women stmck
another with an umbrella.
Three neighbors tried to
intervene to keep the fight
off their property, and one
of them blew a car horn to
get the attention of the fight
ing women, which resulted
in their ceasing to struggle
physically.
The daughter and her
three children live with the
mother, and both accused
the other with being under
the influence of drugs.
There was also some ques
tion over custody, and the
grandmother of the children
produced a 2007 document
from Tennessee awarding
her custody of the children,
but the paperwork said the
situation would be revisited
in August of that year, yet
there was no updated paper
work.
The report noted that the
mother “was loud and inca
pable of carrying out a rea
sonable conversation” with
the officer.
Other Incidents
Other incidents taking up
police time during the past
week include:
• allegations at Commerce
Middle School that a female
student was groped by a
boy in her class. Police were
unable to find any witness
es to confirm the student’s
allegations and nothing was
apparent from surveillance
videos. The school resource
officer told the girl to come
straight to a faculty member
if such an incident occurs in
the future.
• The recovery of a bank
envelope containing $160
from the front of an officer’s
police car. It turned out that
the bag had fallen between
the passenger’s seat and
the door after an officer had
escorted a clerk from City
Hall to a bank for a trans
action.
• theft by conversion
alleged by Goodmark Chev
rolet, South Elm Street,
against a woman who made
a $500 down payment on
a 2016 Chevy Malibu LS,
signed the sales agreement,
but has not fulfilled her obli
gations with GM Financial.
The woman reportedly went
to another dealership later,
bought another vehicle and
seemed to think she could
keep one and return the
other. The woman has not
answered calls from the deal
ership and not tried to return
the vehicle. The OnStar
tracking system was not
successfully connected or
activated, so the dealership
cannot locate the vehicle.
ICSO incidents - central lackson
Mail says he'll kill, burn, eat woman
A homeless man recent
ly threatened to kill, burn
and eat a woman in Jack-
son County.
According to a Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office inci
dent report, a deputy met at
the district attorney’s office
with the woman, who said
she had received a threat
ening text message from
the man and was in fear
of her life because of his
mental condition.
The woman already had
a permanent protection
order against the man. She
was unaware of his where
abouts and said only that
he was homeless.
The incident remained
under investigation as of
Monday afternoon.
Other incidents
Other incidents reported
recently to the JCSO in its
Zone B (southern part of
Jackson) include:
• suspicious activity at
an Ethridge Road, Jefferson
residence. The complain
ants said they locked their
doors before leaving their
home but returned to find
boot prints leading from the
front door into the kitch
en. The complainants said
they noticed nothing miss
ing, and there appeared
to be no signs of forced
entry. There was also noth
ing reported missing from
the front yard, where there
were several items for sale.
The complainants also said
they had not given anyone
else a key to the home.
•a damaged mailbox at
a Thyatira-Brockton Road,
Jefferson residence.
• A woman at a Mallory
Road, Statham residence
reported that someone had
damaged a garden hose
in her yard and possibly
siphoned gas from her
lawnmower and car.
•a stray dog attacking
another dog in the area of
Oak Grove Road in Athens.
•A woman at a South
Trotters Way, Jefferson, res
idence reported she has
had gas siphoned from her
vehicles multiple times in
the past month.
•a dispute at a Roque-
more Road, Athens resi
dence.
•a damaged mailbox at
a Marie Court, Athens res
idence.
• a report of a white male
wearing jeans shorts and a
green shirt coming out of
the woods to the front door
of a Westminster Drive, Jef
ferson residence and ask
ing for a ride to the nearest
convenience store because
he was “running from the
law.”
•An Arkansas man
reported fraudulent activ
ity in his late mother’s
bank account at a Sun
Trust branch in Athens.
The man, who was the
executor of the estate, said
$5,491 was missing from
the account and some
one had tried to cash a
$20,000 check from it.
The man said his moth
er’s ex-daughter-in-law
had written the checks
and had likely obtained
them when she visited his
mother shortly before her
death.
•a report of a pit bull
chasing chickens on Har
rison Johnson Way in Jef
ferson. The complainant
and owner of the chickens
was keeping the dog for
neighbors and was expect
ing them back soon to col
lect it.
•A couple at a gas sta
tion on Jefferson Road in
Athens reported that the
woman’s ex-boyfriend had
beaten her with a stick and
taken her driver’s license
from her car and fled after
her boyfriend was able to
get him to stop.
•A Commerce woman
reported that a man she
has a child with had been
sending her harassing text
messages. The woman
said the man disappeared
with no contact for several
years following the birth of
their child and then con
tacted her a few months
ago. She said he was not
interested in the child,
only getting back together
with her. When she told
him she wanted nothing to
do with him, the man said
he was going to “brand her
because she was his.”
•A man at a Double
Bridges Road, Jefferson res
idence reported that some
one had damaged two of
his vehicles and taken from
them a motorcycle helmet,
small office filing cabinet
and a gear-shifter knob. He
suspected white males who
lived at the end of the street
were responsible, due to
other issues that occurred
the previous year.
• a civil dispute at a Kim
berly Lane, Pendergrass
residence.
•a report of a damaged
mailbox at an Apple Valley
Road, Jefferson residence.
• A vehicle was damaged
on Interstate 85 North near
mile marker 140 when the
drive shaft of a dump truck
it was driving behind came
off, causing the vehicle to
run over it. The vehicle had
extensive damage to its
undercarriage.
Banks County Sheriffs Office incidents
Vehicles broken into at Banks Crossing motels
Two vehicles were bro
ken into at Banks Crossing
motels last week, according
to incident reports filed at
the Banks County Sheriff’s
Office.
Someone broke into a
locked truck at the motel
on Eisenhower Drive, Com
merce. Nothing was taken.
In the second report, a
man at another motel said
someone broke into his tmck
during the night. Nothing
was taken.
Other incidents reported
last week to the Banks County
Sheriffs Office were:
•a gas driveoff at a Hwy.
441, Commerce, business.
• a wallet taken from a vehi
cle parked at a restaurant on
Steven B. Tanger Boulevard,
Commerce.
•lumber, wheels, pressure
washer and tools taken from a
Hwy. 51, Lula, location.
• a suspicious person taking
photos of property on Hwy.
326, Commerce.
• a deer feeder, battery and
corn stolen from property on
Mt. Sinai Road, Lula.
•A Loggins Lane, Com
merce, resident said a dog
came onto his property and
attacked his dog.
•a door damaged at the
county extension office on
Evans Street in Homer.
Banks County deputies
announce 17 arrests
The Banks County Sher
iff’s Office arrested 17 people
last week, including the fol
lowing:
•Wayne Allen Berryman,
54, 491 Cedar Rock Road,
Hoschton, driving without a
valid license and failure to
maintain a lane.
• Travis Lee Martin, 21,799
Otis Brown Road, Baldwin,
simple battery.
•Demarkeo Stoer Chan
dler, 21,224 Water Plant Road,
Commerce, simple battery.
• Edward Lee Tollison, 20,
286 Water Plant Road, Com
merce, simple battery.
•Greg Lee Tollison, 44,
284 Water Plant Road, Com
merce, simple battery.
• Robert Franklin Ford, 52,
8335 Jensen Trail, Gaines
ville, probation violation.
•Joshua Wade Ruther
ford, 27, 1640 Aqua Road,
Madison, probation violation.
•Tricia Lenora Sanders,
39,415 Leaning Chimney Cir
cle, Clarkesville, aggravated
child molestation.
•Nicholas Gene Thomp
son, 28, 3551 Yonah-Homer
Road, Homer, abandonment
of a dependent child.
•Amanda Tollison, 39,
284 Water Plant Road, Com
merce, simple battery.
• Dewey Jack Holmes, 51,
133 Pine Street, Pendergrass,
probation violation.
•Amy Lynn Kalb, 30, 950
Jefferson River Road, Jeffer
son, probation violation.
• Hendry Ledara Watson,
40, 544 MLK Jr. Drive, Com
merce, probation violation.
• Robert Jeffery Hubbard,
49, 300 Hickory Ridge Road,
Homer, probation violation.
• Demetrius Denard
Evans, 23, 74 Kirkwood
Road, Atlanta, driving without
a valid license and speeding.
•Coby Lear McDonald,
38, 153 Sycamore Street,
Homer, probation violation.
•James Henry Riffe, 28,
135 Hidden Oaks Trail, Jeffer
son, possession of metham-
phetamine and obstruction
of a law enforcement officer.
GSP arrests 4 in Jackson
The Georgia State Patrol made four arrests in Jackson Coun
ty over the past week. They were:
• Ronald Neftaly Bonilla-Ramos, 21,2718 Buena Vista Circle,
Gainesville, driving under the influence (DUI).
• Michael Darren Jones, 46,300 Azalia Drive, Jefferson, DUI
and possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
•Brian Walter Black, 37, 272 Old Hoods Mill Road, Com
merce, driving with a suspended license and outstanding
warrants from Gwinnett County and Norcross.
•Jesus Antonio Hernandez Olivera, 19, 450 Whitehead
Road, Athens, driving without a valid license and driving a
vehicle with no valid insurance.
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