The following information is gleaned from incident reports, which are public record, from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and Gray Police Department Aug. 4-11, 2023.
Aug. 4
Computer scam
Deputy Johnson was dispatched to the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office in reference to a computer scam.
The complainant advised Johnson she had been scammed out of $2,000.00. She told the deputy that she was on her computer when a box popped up stating there was a “trojan horse” virus on her computer and she needed to call the phone number listed which was listed as “Microsoft” to help remove the virus. The complainant advised the deputy she called the number and spoke to a gentleman that had a foreign accent. She stated that the man remotely logged into her computer and showed her where she had supposedly been on a child porn website. The gentleman advised her that he could remove the virus for a fee. The man also told the complainant that the bank would be calling her to discuss the payment process.
The complainant advised shortly after that, she received a phone call from a subject who instructed her to go to a gas station on Joycliff Road and use the machine there to transfer the money to a Bitcoin account. The complainant told Johnson she did as the male subject had told her and transferred two $1,000.00 payments to the account using a QR code sent to her. She stated she was also instructed to go to another location on Ingleside Drive in Macon, but instead of doing that she drove straight to the Jones County LEC to report the incident. Johnson advised the complainant that this was definitely a scam, and she should change all of her passwords immediately and call the bank to flag her account as being compromised. Johnson had the female send him the QR code she was given, and it would be filed as evidence. This case will be turned over to investigations.
Suspended Registration
Deputy Caldwell was on patrol when he received an alert from his license plate reader that is affixed on the rear of his patrol car for a vehicle bearing a GA license plate showing suspended registration. At that time, Caldwell ran the vehicle tag information through the GCIC/ NCIC database and it also showed suspended registration along with no valid insurance. Caldwell then activated his blue lights and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. When the deputy made contact with the female driver, the lady stated she was not aware the vehicle had no insurance, and she was also not aware that her registration had been suspended.
Caldwell gave the female subject the opportunity to try and obtain insurance on the scene, but she was unsuccessful at doing so. As the deputy was continuing to speak to the female subject, he detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Caldwell asked the female if she had any marijuana inside the car, and she advised the deputy that she had smoked earlier but there was nothing inside the vehicle. Due to the odor of marijuana, the deputy called for an additional unit to the scene to conduct a probable cause search of the vehicle. Sgt. Johnson arrived on scene to assist. After Caldwell served the female with citations for suspended registration and no insurance, he conducted a search of the vehicle. The only thing he found was a partially burned marijuana cigarette and he recovered it. The deputy advised the female subject that he would not charge her for the partially burned marijuana and destroyed it in front of her on camera. The vehicle was then towed by a local wrecker service and the female only received the citations for suspended registration and no insurance.
Aug. 11
Unlabeled prescription medication
Corp. Sullivan and trainee Deputy Mattox were on patrol when a vehicle caught his attention making a turn in front of traffic almost causing an accident. Sullivan then checked the vehicle registration, and it came back to show the vehicle had no insurance.
At that time, Sullivan conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. When the officer made contact with the driver, the female advised Sullivan that she did have insurance, but the insurance card she provided showed an expiration date of July 2023. Sullivan returned to his patrol vehicle while Dep. Mattox stood by with the female driver and called the insurance company to verify, and the representative advised him the insurance had lapsed in July 2023. Sullivan printed a citation for no insurance and had the next available wrecker service to come tow the vehicle. Dep. Mattox had noticed some pill bottles and asked the female if the prescriptions belonged to her.
The female produced the pill bottles that showed they were prescribed to her; however, one bottle had no label.
The female told the officers that the unlabeled pills may be her mother’s and she advised her mother takes Roxicodone. There was one of the unlabeled pills that was a whole one while the other two pills were missing a portion of them. Sullivan checked the numbers on the pills, and it came back to show that the unlabeled pills were Oxycodone. The female was placed in handcuffs and Dep. Sullivan arrived on scene to transport the female to the Jones County LEC while Mattox and Corp. Sullivan waited on the wrecker to tow the vehicle. Corp. Sullivan obtained a warrant for possession of schedule II drugs and the female was charged with no insurance and possession of schedule II drugs.
Aug. 14
No license and multiple warrants
Dep. Caldwell was on patrol when he observed a vehicle with no working taillights. Caldwell was able to get behind the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Caldwell made contact with the male driver and advised the reason for the stop. The driver told the deputy he was not aware of the taillight issue and asked to get out of the vehicle to check as he was just returning the car to the registered owner after borrowing it. Caldwell ran the driver’s license through the GCIC/ NCIC database, and it came back to show he was unlicensed and had multiple warrants out of Bibb County for probation violation and one of the original offenses being obstruction.
At that time, Caldwell requested an additional unit to assist with the stop.
After requesting the additional unit, Caldwell went back and spoke to the male subject and advised him of the warrants and instructed the subject to place his hands behind his back. The male subject tensed up and acted as if he was going to snatch away from the deputy. Believing that the subject may run, Caldwell kept a firm grip until he was able to secure the male in handcuffs and read him his Miranda Rights. The male subject advised the deputy that he knew his laws and that he belonged to a “specific community,” refused to answer any more questions from the deputy, and stated he was being arrested for no reason. An impound inventory was done on the vehicle, and canine Nesa was deployed to do a free air sniff search as another one of the subject’s prior charges was possession of cocaine. Nesa alerted to the driver’s side door and a small amount of marijuana mixed with tobacco shreddings was located inside of the driver’s door. No other illegal items were found. The male driver was transported to the Jones County LEC where he was given a citation for driving unlicensed, however the male refused to sign it. The male subject was then turned over to jail staff without incident.
