BCSO blotter: Tag office customer causes disruption

Disorderly conduct: Deputies and Pembroke police were called on a woman who was giving county tag officers problems.

BCSO was told May 30 the customer "came to the tag office in Pembroke and Richmond Hill five times (in May)," to get "her deceased mother's car transferred into her name."

The first time, the woman was told she couldn't get a tag until the car cleared probate. The woman came back to one of the tag offices with her attorney on the phone and he told the clerk the car wasn't in probate.

"The clerk then advised (the woman) that since the car was not in probate, she needed her driver's license and her mother's death certificate."

The woman had a South Carolina's driver's license, however, so "the clerk advised (the woman) that she needed a Georgia driver's license."

The report said the woman came into the Pembroke office at least three times, and "each time she came into the office she was acting in a loud boisterous manner, degrading the office staff … telling (staffers) they were uneducated, they needed to go to the gym."

The report said the woman had "print outs on how to get a GED and gym memberships," and "was shoving the print outs at the clerks through the window openings," and "on occasion (her) behavior was so bad that it scared a child that was in the tag office. Twice the Pembroke police were called."

The woman was served a criminal trespass notice May 30.

Damage to property: A deputy was sent to the lady's bathroom near the baseball fields at the back of the Bryan County Recreation Department off Timber Trail on May 30 regarding graffiti on the inside of a stall.

The graffiti read "Go to Heel." (obviously the vandals can't spell). A BCRD employee said they had video of the "suspect/suspects entering the restroom," and they had already had already been removed but "wanted to document this due to recent (similar in nature) cases of vandalism in the park."

DUI: A deputy finishing up an unrelated traffic stop on Highway 280 around 1 a.m. May 28 "noticed a dark in color 4-door Ford F150 in the ditch attempting to get out."

"After approaching the F150, the driver (who was identified) stated he pulled over to take a nap and got stuck in the ditch," the report continued. "(He) made multiple attempts in front of deputies to get out of the ditch but was unsuccessful. (A deputy) asked (the man) if he had the truck in low gear but (the driver) stated he did not know how and that the truck was a rental."

A deputy then offered to show the man how to put the truck into low gear, and that's when he "smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle."

It was also coming from the driver, who agreed to take a preliminary breath test – he failed – and said he hadn't had anything to drink since he left Waycross two hours earlier.

He was arrested for DUI, the pickup was towed.

Matter of record: A deputy was sent to a Richmond Hill church graveyard around 11:49 a.m. May 29 regarding a man "who stated he was in the graveyard preaching the gospel."The church pastor, however, "stated he did not want (the man) in the graveyard unless he had family there due to vandalism in the past."

The man did not "appeared to be intoxicated but appeared to be suffering from some mental health issues," the report said, but when he was told EMS could come check him out he said he wasn't crazy.

"At this time with him not appearing to be under the influence, he asked where the Richmond Hill Police Department was because he wanted to report a prior incident to them," the report continued, noting he "was advised on how to get there and he left the scene."Obstruction, no insurance, hit and run, etc: A deputy sent to a North Bryan address to look for a vehicle "with lout pipes," around 11 p.m. May 29 was told the vehicle was headed towards the Dollar General on Highway 204, but when he went that way a second call reported the vehicle was somewhere near Indian Trail.

The deputy headed down Red Bug Road when he heard the pipes "towards the Pine Barren Loop area," so he drove down that road when he spotted a pickup pass a car in the middle of the road. He checked to see if the pickup had loud pipes and it didn't. The driver of the pickup said it was the vehicle behind him, and "he was following the vehicle because it hit his truck on Black Creek Church Road."

The deputy backed up behind the vehicle, a Honda CRV, and checked the tag which showed it had "suspended registration and no insurance."

He could smell radiator fluid coming from the car, and when he explained he was investigating a hit and run and asked the driver for ID she refused.

Backup also showed up to try and get the woman out of the car but "she called 911 four times and the last time she asked for the Effingham County Sheriff's Office, she was transferred to the Effingham County Sheriff's Office," the report said.

The woman then cranked the car back up and tried to leave, so she was removed from the car and handcuffed, etc.

The man in the pickup said he’d heard the vehicle "doing circles in the cul-de-sac of Shuman Town for forty-five minutes," and so he followed it trying to block the vehicle in when it hit his pickup.

He apparently gave another deputy a different story, but the end result was the woman was taken to jail facing a long list of charges and her car was towed.