LAW ENFORCEMENT
A traffic stop for an expired tag and no insurance turned into the arrest of two for possession of cocaine and marijuana in a joint effort of officers with the Gray Police Department and Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
Avalon Sheree Amoo, 35, and Jeremiah Paul Gross, 44, were arrested March 21 and charged with possession of cocaine and possession less than an ounce marijuana.
The report of the arrests by GPD Lt. Jacob Hunnicutt said he was patrolling West Clinton Street and Jackson Avenue at 10:15 a.m. March 21, when a tag number showed a Ford F-150 had an expired registration and no valid insurance.
Hunnicutt said he performed a traffic stop, and the Ford pulled into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. He said he saw the female exit the truck on the passenger side before he finished calling out the traffic stop to dispatch. He said she was bent over and started to walk away from the truck.
The lieutenant said he instructed her to get back into the truck, and she complied. He said he noticed that the driver and passenger put their arms on the back of the bench seat and rubbed their hands back and forth.
Hunnicutt made contact on the passenger side of the truck because of the plastic over the window on the driver’s side. He said as soon as he made contact, he could smell green marijuana. The officer said Gross, the driver, told him they had just left the tag office on was on his way to the insurance office. He said the passenger, Amoo, handed him an insurance binder from an insurance company.
Hunnicutt noted that he had forgotten his body camera and used the camera of GPD Lt. Mitch Lovick until his could be brought to him. Hunnicutt said he searched Gross and found no drugs, and he requested a female officer from the Jones County Sheriff’s Office to search Amoo. JCSO Deputy Ayla Morris responded.
Hunnicutt said when his camera arrived, he switched it out and began searching the truck.
The lieutenant said he found a hoodie behind the seat and a green baggie with a powder substance. He said he believed Gross and Amoo were attempting to empty the baggie and hide it when they were rubbing their arms on the back of the seat.
Morris’ search of Amoo yielded a small plastic container in the front of her pants with a green leafy substance inside, thought to be marijuana. Hunnicutt said he believed Amoo stuck the container in her pants when she first exited the truck.
He said the suspects were taken into custody, and warrants were secured for both on charges of possession of cocaine and marijuana.
Hunnicutt said Amoo had active warrants out of Twiggs County for possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance.
