The following information is gleaned from incident reports, which are public record, from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and Gray Police Department March 17-22, 2023.
March 18
Eluding an officer
Sgt. Carr was on routine patrol when he observed a truck pulling a trailer with no tag driving south on Hwy. 49 towards Macon. The vehicle made a quick right turn off Millerfield Road then just a few seconds later the vehicle passed Carr on Shurling Dr.
Carr activated his blue lights and siren attempting to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle due to no tag on the trailer and an unsecured load on the trailer. The truck actually slowed down at one point, then accelerated. Carr advised the Sheriff’s Office he would be in a vehicle pursuit and continued with lights and siren. The truck continued towards downtown Macon, and when it came to the intersection of Coliseum Drive, Carr deactivated his lights and siren and turned going back into Jones County. Using his in-car computer, the Sgt. ran the license plate of the vehicle and was able to identify the registered owner via a photo of his driver’s license. Carr returned to the Jones County Sheriff’s office and secured a warrant for fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer. Later, dispatch advised Carr that the registered owner of the vehicle he pursued was in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office and wished to speak to him.
When Carr met with the male subject, the male advised he had allowed a family member to use the vehicle. The male would not give Carr the person’s name and stated he would take responsibility for the issue.
Carr advised the male he could actually identify him as the one driving the vehicle. Carr served the male with a copy of the warrant and issued him citations for unsecured load, no registration on trailer, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane and improper passing.
March 20
One thing leads to another Inv. Hall was in the area of Woodall Dr. when he observed a vehicle and called the tag in to Jones County Dispatch to verify. Dispatch advised Hall the owner had active insurance but canceled registration. Hall attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle and at first the vehicle failed to stop.
When the vehicle finally came to a stop, Hall observed two occupants in the vehicle. Hall made contact with the driver, and immediately smelled the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The female passenger seemed to be breathing extremely hard and looked to be very nervous. Hall asked the male driver if he was on any kind of probation or parole and the male advised Hall that he was on active probation out of Bibb County.
The male driver told Hall there was a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle already rolled up in a cigar and there was a pistol in the vehicle, but it did not belong to him, it belonged to the female passenger.
Dep. Dennis arrived on scent to assist. Hall had the passenger retrieve the pistol from the vehicle and the female told him she was not sure if it was stolen or not, that she had purchased it from a guy with tattoos all over his arms. Hall called the serial numbers from the pistol into Jones County Dispatch, and they advised the pistol was stolen out of Bibb County. Carr told the female that she would be arrested for theft by receiving stolen property and also for possession of a firearm under the age of 18. The driver was allowed to leave the scene at that time and the female was transported to the Jones County LEC where she was served her warrants.
Looking Suspicious
Inv. Hall was in the area of a local business when he observed a driver acting suspicious due to seeing a marked patrol vehicle (Dep. Harden’s patrol car was in the parking lot of the business). Hall observed a male driver and female passenger, then called the tag number into the Jones County Dispatch to verify. Dispatch advised Hall the registered owner had an active warrant. Hall notified Dep. Harden as he was walking out of the business to assist in making contact with the driver. Hall made contact with the male driver while Harden made contact with the female passenger. Hall asked the male if he had any identification on him and he advised he did not. Hall explained to the driver that when the tag information was ran it came back to show the registered owner had a warrant. The male subject told Hall the registered owner was his brother, and he was at home in Sandersville.
Corp. Sullivan arrived on scene to assist, and the tag information was run in Sullivan’s in-car computer.
The driver image that came up as the registered owner was in fact the male that was being detained.
In the meantime, Dep. Harden was speaking to the female passenger.
Hall and Harden noticed the female had extremely heavy breathing and began sweating. Hall asked the female if she had any warrants and she told him she wasn’t sure, but she might have a parole warrant. Harden verified the female’s information, and it came back to show she did have a parole warrant. The female was clinging to a bag the entire time and it was searched. They found a quantity of pills that were verified as used to treat opioid overdose and prevent opioid withdrawals.
Both the male driver and female passenger were placed under arrest and transported to the Jones County LEC. A warrant for possession of schedule III substance was secured for the female.
March 22
Marijuana in crotch and pills in a pouch Lt. Hunnicutt was patrolling the area of Gray Hwy. and Greene Settlement Rd. when he entered the tag number of a vehicle traveling in front of him. When the GCIC system in Hunnicutt’s vehicle returned, it showed the vehicle registration was invalid and the tag was expired. At that time, Hunnicutt activated his blue lights to conduct a traffic stop.
As soon as Hunnicutt made contact with the driver, he could smell a strong odor of green marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.
The Lt. asked the driver about the odor, and the male subject advised that he had just smoked prior to the traffic stop. Hunnicutt had the male exit the vehicle and advised him he was going to search the car.
The driver told Hunnicutt that he was a marijuana smoker and that he would find cigars in the vehicle used for smoking marijuana. The Lt. searched the vehicle and found a black pouch. Inside the pouch he could see multiple pills in various shapes and colors. There was a total of 26 pills in the pouch.
Hunnicutt advised the male he was being placed under arrest and then placed him in handcuffs. Hunnicutt advised the male before taking him to the LEC that there was a Guard Line Law and at that time the male subject told the Lt. there was marijuana in his underwear.
Hunnicutt put on gloves and retrieved a clear bag of marijuana and a hand rolled marijuana cigar from his front crotch area. A further inspection of the vehicle tag showed a red decal on it that did not match the license plate number. The decal was worn, and the complete number could not be seen. Capt. Maynard arrived and transported the male to the Jones County LEC. Hunnicutt contacted a Magistrate Judge and obtained a warrant for possession of methamphetamine. The male was charged with possession of methamphetamine, affixing a tag with intent to conceal, operation of an unregistered vehicle and possession of marijuana less than an ounce. The warrants and citations were served to the male.
