The following information is gleaned from incident reports, which are public record, from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and Gray Police Department Dec. 21-26, 2023.
Dec. 21
Fleeing subject got away
Deputy Sullivan was on patrol when he received an alert from a flock camera regarding a stolen vehicle. Sullivan was able to locate and catch up to the vehicle turning Northbound on Gray Hwy. When the driver saw the deputy, he turned into a nearby parking lot and began accelerating in speed through the parking lot. The vehicle then hit an embankment and wrecked. The driver, a short male jumped out of the vehicle and began running on foot.
Sullivan pursued the subject until he lost sight of him. The deputy returned to the stolen vehicle and called for D.O.C.
K9 personnel to assist on the scene. While waiting on the additional personnel, Sullivan searched the stolen vehicle and found nothing but the vehicle registration paperwork and some miscellaneous items in the glove box. The vehicle had no ignition switch or radio inside.
Lt. Ransom arrived on scene and gave the description of the male subject over the radio and Sheriff’s office personnel formed a perimeter around the scene. Lt. Ransom had the next available wrecker service to tow the stolen vehicle. Cpl.
Sullivan was also on scene and advised dispatch to advise Bibb County due to the vehicle being stolen from there. D.O.C. K9 personnel arrived on scene and began tracking the male subject along with Deputy Sullivan and Lt. Ransom. The subject was tracked through the woods into a clearing where the K9 lost track. The male subject was not identified or found, and all units went back into service.
Dec. 23
He just took a chance
Deputy Elrod was on assigned patrol when he noticed a vehicle hit on a Flock Camera located on Hwy. 49 and Bowen Hill Rd.
The Flock Camera indicated the vehicle had suspended registration. Elrod ran the vehicle information through the GCIC/NCIC system, and it confirmed the vehicle did not have valid insurance and that it had suspended registration.
Elrod waited at his location to see if the vehicle would pass him. The vehicle matching the description in the Flock Camera notification and bearing the same tag number passed by Elrod at that time heading towards Macon. Elrod pulled out behind the vehicle and activated his blue lights to initiate a traffic stop. When the deputy made contact with the male driver, the subject told Elrod that he knew there was no insurance on the vehicle and that he just took a chance to drive it to Milledgeville to see his girlfriend. While speaking to the male subject, Elrod detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and the male had a tee shirt on that had a marijuana leaf picture on it. Deputy Robinson arrived on scene at that time to assist Elrod. The male subject was asked to step out of the vehicle to do a probable cause search due to the odor of marijuana. During the search of the vehicle, Elrod located a bag of marijuana in the back floorboard. The bag contained less than one ounce of marijuana. No other illegal substance or weapons were found during the search. The male driver was then placed in handcuffs and transported to the jail by Deputy Robinson.
The male driver was issued citations for possession of marijuana less than one ounce, no insurance and suspended registration then released on his tickets from the jail.
Dec. 26
Stolen dog food and cleaning supplies
Deputy Shurley was dispatched to a local business in reference to a shoplifting incident. Once he arrived at the business, the deputy met with the store manager. The manager advised the deputy that the woman that recently stole the merchandise had been in the store previously and had been caught trying to take tags off merchandise. When that incident happened, one of the store employees went outside and got the tag number off the vehicle she drove. The store manager then proceeds to show Shurley the video footage of the recent encounter. The video footage shows the female with a shopping cart full of items such as five 30-pound bags of dogfood, two bottles of liquid bleach, one package of bleach wipes, one bundle of paper towels and a loaf of bread. Also on the video, Shurley observed the female push her shopping cart up to the self-checkout line, she disappears off camera for a moment then returns to the shopping cart and proceeds to leave the store. The footage also shows the female walking to a SUV and loading the items into the vehicle. At that time, the store manager goes out and confronts the female subject and asked her if she paid for the items and she told him that she did and paid at the self-checkout.
The manager then goes back inside the business to check the purchase and while doing so, the female subject left the premises. Shurley, at that time, ran the tag number off the vehicle that one of the employees had previously retrieved.
Shurley proceeded to the residence of the vehicle owner. When the deputy arrived at the residence, he met with a male subject that advised the deputy a female had borrowed his vehicle, however he has no idea where she could be and that if she showed back up at his house, he would call the deputy. The male subject gave the deputy the name of the female. Warrants will be sought for the female subject for theft by shoplifting.
