The following information is gleaned from incident reports, which are public record, from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and Gray Police Department March 6-14 2024.
March 6
Erratic driving
Lt. Pennamon was pulling out of the parking lot of a local business when a female driver turning in to the business, tried to turn in on his right side which was the sidewalk portion. Pennamon then entered the vehicle registration into his in car GCIC system. That information came back to show that the vehicle registration was suspended. Pennamon backed up and initiated a traffic stop on the female driver. When the lieutenant made contact with the female, he advised her that her registration was suspended and asked for her driver’s license. The female subject stated she did not have a hard copy of her license and showed Pennamon a copy of her license on her phone.
Pennamon ran the female’s information via his in car GCIC system and it showed the female was wanted out of Bibb County.
Jones County dispatch confirmed the warrant. The female driver was transported to the county line. Dispatch was asked to contact Bibb County to see when they would be arriving. Dispatch notified Pennamon that Bibb County advised they did not have an officer available at that time. At that time, the female driver was transported to the Jones County LEC where she was issued a citation for driving with suspended tag and she was given her court appearance date.
March 11
Habitual violator
Lt. Hunnicutt was patrolling the area of West Clinton Street when he ran a tag on a vehicle to check for valid insurance and registration through the GCIC system. The vehicle tag check came back to show that the vehicle currently had a suspended registration and no valid insurance. The GCIC system also showed that the registered owner currently had a revoked driver’s license. At that time, Hunnicutt activated his blue lights and siren and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. When the lieutenant made contact with the male driver, he advised the driver the reason for the stop and the male told Hunnicutt that he should have insurance, but he didn’t know if it had been paid and he could not provide any proof of insurance. Upon further investigation, Hunnicutt saw that the male subject and owner of the vehicle had been declared a habitual violator.
Hunnicutt placed the male driver under arrest. Lt. Pennamon arrived on scene and transported the male to the Jones County LEC. Hunnicutt made contact with the Magistrate Judge and had a warrant issued for habitual violator. The male driver was also issued citations for driving while license revoked, suspended registration, no insurance and expired tag and that all charges would be handled in Superior Court of Jones County.
March 12
Dazed and confused
Deputy Elrod was on assigned patrol when he observed a vehicle sitting at a red light and he immediately detected a very strong odor of marijuana coming through the air vents in his patrol vehicle when the specific car traveled through the intersection after the light turned green. There were no other vehicles around at that time so the deputy knew there was no other vehicle the smell could be coming from. Elrod caught up to the specific vehicle and activated his blue lights to conduct a traffic stop.
When the deputy made contact with the occupants of the vehicle, marijuana smoke was billowing out from the inside of the car. Elrod asked the female driver if she knew why he stopped her, and she advised the deputy she had no idea why.
The deputy told the female driver that the odor of marijuana was so strong it was coming through the air vents in his patrol vehicle. The female driver seemed to be so dazed and confused as to what was going on. At that time, Elrod asked the female and male passenger if there was any marijuana in the vehicle. The male passenger then picked up some marijuana roaches off the passenger side floorboard and stated they had been smoking marijuana. The deputy asked if there was anything else in the vehicle and the male stated that he had drank some shots. Officer Josey with Gray PD arrived on scene to assist with the stop. The female driver and male passenger were asked to exit the vehicle so a probable cause search could be done. Upon searching the vehicle, Elrod located numerous marijuana roaches all over the vehicle along with various brands of cigar wrappers commonly used for smoking marijuana. There were also numerous clear plastic bottles of “Twisted” shots scattered all over the driver and passenger floorboards and a glass bottle of an alcoholic beverage behind the front passenger seat. A small “nugget” of marijuana was found in the center console along with a Kang vape and a “dugout,” also commonly referred to as a “one hitter” or “bat” was found with a small amount of marijuana inside it. Elrod asked the female driver if she would perform a Standardized Field Sobriety Test and she agreed to do so.
During portions of the test, the female driver showed slight hesitation and delay in time perception. At that time, the female driver was placed in handcuffs and was read the Implied Consent.
The female had to be read the Implied Consent a second time due to her not understanding the questions being asked and wanted the deputy to elaborate on what she should do. Elrod advised the female that he could not give her any legal advice, nor could he advise her on what decision to make. The female finally agreed to Implied Consent for suspects under the age of 21 for a blood draw. Both the female driver and male passenger were placed in handcuffs and Officer Josey transported them to the Jones County LEC. Once at the LEC, a nurse was on scene to do the blood draw on the female and placed it in the GBI blood kit. The driver was then issued citations for DUI-Drugs, possession of marijuana less than one ounce and open container violation. The male passenger was issued a citation for possession of marijuana less than one ounce.
March 14
Multiple warrants
Lt. Hunnicutt was on patrol at West Clinton Street and Madison Avenue when he ran a tag number on a vehicle to check for valid registration and insurance. Hunnicutt ran the tag through the GCIC system, and it came back to show the tag had expired.
Hunnicutt activated his blue lights and siren and conducted a traffic stop at that time. The Lt. made contact with the male driver and advised him why he was stopped. Hunnicutt then checked the driver’s information through the GCIC system and that came back to show that the male driver currently had multiple outstanding warrants out of Baldwin County. The driver was placed under arrest and warrants were confirmed with Baldwin County. The driver was issued a citation for expired tag and transported to Baldwin County by Officer Jones.
Confirmed warrant
Lt. Hunnicutt was patrolling the area of West Clinton Street and Jackson Avenue when he ran a GA tag number to verify valid registration and insurance.
When Hunnicutt ran the information through the GCIC system, it came back to show that the registered owner of the vehicle had a valid warrant out of Bibb County. Hunnicutt activated his blue lights and siren and conducted a traffic stop. The Lt. made contact with the male driver and verified his information and confirmed the warrant. The male was placed in handcuffs at that time and transported to the Jones County LEC by Officer Pointer due to Bibb County not able to meet him at the county line.
