Long pursuit reaches excess of 130 mph
On Dec. 7, law enforcement was patrolling the area of State Route 24 near the intersection of Indian Island Drive when a black Saturn passed them traveling east. The officer ran the vehicle's tag through GCIC and the return indicated that the registered owner of the vehicle, Amir Jones, had multiple active warrants through multiple counties, and also had a revoked driver's license. A picture of the registered owner resembled the driver, so the officer conducted a traffic stop at the county line on State Route 24.
As the officer approached the vehicle, they were able to confirm the driver was the registered owner. However, before contact was made with Jones, he accelerated away and a pursuit was initiated. The officer pursued the vehicle with lights and siren activated toward Washington County. The driver turned around at the county line and began traveling west reaching top speeds of130 miles per hour in a posted 65 mile per hour speed zone. The driver then started to turn right onto State Route 24 toward O'Quinns Pond Road. As the vehicle made the turn, it turned around and crossed over onto Crawford Road. Once the vehicle got onto Crawford Road, Jones turned around in the intersection and began traveling west in the east bound lanes of State Route 540. Due to the dangerous driving behavior, and based upon Sheriff's Office policy, the officer terminated the pursuit.
After the pursuit was terminated, Jones turned his vehicle around in the median and began traveling toward the officer’s vehicle. The officer was able to move out of the way and avoid a crash with the vehicle. Jones then began driving east in the correct lane, so the officer re-initiated the pursuit and pursued the vehicle on State Route 24 to Walton Way, with speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour in a posted 65 mile per hour speed zone. As the pursuit continued, a detective joined the pursuit and Jones eventually traveled through the back yards of residences on Walton Way until his vehicle struck a tree. Jones was taken into custody after he fled a short distance from the vehicle.
Jones received citations for driving while license revoked, reckless driving, and felony fleeing or attempting to elude an officer. A state warrant for felony fleeing or attempting to elude an officer was secured.
Drunk driver caught with cocaine
On Dec. 8, an officer conducted a traffic stop on a silver 2017 Chevrolet Impala due to the registration being suspended, expired, and the vehicle not having valid insurance coverage.
The vehicle came to a complete stop on Frank Bone Road, just off Hancock Street. As the officer approached the driver's door, the driver, identified as Autumun Williams, stated she knew why I was stopping her, due to Jones County stopping her for the same reason earlier in the day. The officer smelled the odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle. After checking Williams’ license status on their in-car computer, Williams stepped out of the vehicle and was questioned about the odor of the unknown alcoholic beverage coming from her vehicle. Williams stated someone spilled a drink on her, however she later admitted she was no longer in those same clothes. Williams then stated someone also vomited on her shoes but she was no longer wearing them. Williams finally admitted that she had one drink and later admitted that she had a total of three drinks.
Williams agreed to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and was determined unfit to drive. Williams also consented to being tested on a roadside portable alcosensor and tested positive for the presence of alcohol with an estimation of 0.122 grams.
Since Williams didn't give driver's license in the beginning, she and her passenger searched for it together. While Williams was looking for her license, the officer was able to see the corner of a plastic bag in the back pouch of her purse. When Williams could not find her driver's license, they asked her if there was anything illegal in her purse, and she stated, 'No. You can search for it if you want to.' While searching her purse, the officer removed a clear plastic bag which contained a quantity of suspected cocaine. Williams stated the cocaine was shoved in her purse from a previous use. Williams received a citation for driving under the influence of alcohol and a warrant for possession of cocaine was secured.