The following information is gleaned from incident reports, which are public record, from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and Gray Police Department May 26 – June 1, 2023.
May 26
No right to bear arms
Deputy Allen was on uniformed patrol when he was alerted by the Flock Camera System that a vehicle had passed by him with a suspended registration. Allen was also alerted that the tag number on the Flock Camera System was not the vehicle that came up on the Flock Camera when he ran the tag through the GCIC/NCIC system. It came back to show that tag number was for a completely different vehicle. At that time, Allen activated his lights and siren and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. The deputy made contact with the male driver and advised him the reason for the stop. The male told Allen that all the paperwork for the car was at his house, and if he would let him go home, he would not drive the vehicle anymore until it was all straightened out. Allen then ran the driver’s license through the GCIC/ NCIC system and that came back to show the driver’s license was suspended all. While speaking to the subject, Allen noticed the male was openly carrying a firearm on his left side. At that time, the driver was placed in handcuffs and transported to the Jones County LEC. After arrival at the LEC, a background check was done on the male subject, and it came back to show he was also a convicted felon according to his criminal history. The male was charged with possession of firearm by a convicted felon, and given citations for driving on suspended license, suspended registration, no insurance and altercation of vehicle tag.
Passenger goes to jail
Sgt. Carr was on routine patrol when he noticed a vehicle that was struggling to maintain is lane of travel and hit the fog line. Carr activated his blue lights and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. The Sgt. made contact with the female driver and a male passenger. The driver told Carr that the vehicle had been wrecked several times and the steering was messed up.
Carr obtained the driver’s information and male passenger advised the officer that he did not have his ID on him but has a driver’s license out of Georgia and California. The male gave Carr his name and date of birth. Carr ran the female driver’s information through the GCIC/NCIC system, and it came back fine. Carr then ran the male passenger’s information; however, nothing was found. Carr went back to the male passenger and this time the subject gave his name but a different date of birth and still nothing showed on the passenger in the system. At that time, Carr had the male exit the vehicle. Carr advised the male he was being detained for giving false information, and the Sgt. was going to call for the Rapid ID unit to be in route to the scene. The male gave Carr another name and when Carr ran that information through the GCIC/ NCIC system it showed the subject had multiple felony warrants for his arrest out of Paulding County. Deputy Amerson arrived on scene to assist.
Carr deployed K9 Rex to do an openair sniff of the vehicle. K9 Rex alerted to the odor of narcotics in the vehicle.
A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted and located in the back seat was a backpack the male advised was his. Inside the bag, Carr found two bags of methamphetamine and a glass pipe commonly used for smoking meth. At that time, the driver was given a citation for failure to maintain lane and released from the stop. The male passenger was transported to the Jones County LEC by deputy Amerson where a warrant for possession of methamphetamine was secured on the subject then turned over to jail staff for booking.
May 28
Dark windows and marijuana Sgt. Carr was on routine patrol when he observed a vehicle with dark tinted windows. Carr pulled out behind the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop at that time. When the Sgt. made contact with the female driver, he noticed the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Carr conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle due to the odor and found a bag located behind the passenger seat that the female driver verified to be hers.
Inside the bag, Carr found two clear bags of marijuana. Sgt. Carr advised the female subject that she was being placed under arrest. Dep. Robinson transported the female to the Jones County LEC, and once Carr arrived, he issued the subject citations for window tint violation and possession of marijuana less than an ounce. The female was then turned over to jail staff for booking.
Switching tags
Sgt. Humphries was alerted by the Flock Camera System of a vehicle that had an expired tag. Humphries spotted the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. The Sgt. ran the vehicle tag information through the GCIC/NCIC system, and it came back to show that the vehicle registration was suspended.
Humphries made contact with the male driver and requested his insurance card and driver’s license. The Sgt. noticed the VIN number on the insurance card was different from the VIN number on the tag of the vehicle. The driver then explained to Humphries that the tag on the vehicle he was driving actually came off his other vehicle he used to drive, and that he just took that tag and put on there. He admitted to the officer that he had been driving with this tag for a while now but had never got the tag properly registered to the newer vehicle. Humphries also was alerted through the GCIC database that the driver’s license was also suspended.
When Humphries asked the male subject about his license, he advised the Sgt. that he did recall getting pulled over and receiving a ticket, but he thought he had taken care of it over the phone. Humphries advised the male that due to his license being suspended for failure to appear, that he would have to be taken to jail and post a bond. The male subject was transported to the Jones County LEC where he was issued two citations: one for driving with suspended license and the other for improperly transferring a license plate.
