SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The Spalding County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved by a 4-0 vote a motion to request an investigation by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office to determine whether the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office violated Georgia’s Open Records Act following its administrative Internal Affairs investigation of David Gibson, the former captain of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Uniform Patrol Division.
Commissioner Gwen Flowers-Taylor made the motion that was later seconded by Commissioner Bart Miller. Commission Chairwoman Rita Johnson and Commissioner Don Hawbaker voted in favor of the measure. Commissioner Raymond Ray was absent from the meeting.
In addressing the commission, Flowers-Taylor said her motion is based upon concerns expressed by constituents.
“We have, as a board, made it clear to everyone that we’re a different constitutional branch than the Sheriff’s Department, however, most people identify everything that has to do with government with the Spalding County Board of Commissioners, so I just feel like as a Board, since we really don’t have any power, what we can do for the citizens is to ask the Attorney General to look and see if they feel that there’s a violation,” Flowers-Taylor said. “That way, the official people can say yes or no, and we’ll have an answer and anyone else who has a concern will have an answer…They can answer us that they don’t think that it’s a problem or they’ll look into it or whatever, but that should kind of take it off our plate. We’re really not involved, anyway, but, you know, just for the public’s sake.
In response to Flowers-Taylor’s motion, Spalding County Attorney Jim Fortune said, “We can certainly make the request for the Attorney General to do that. Of course, it’s discretionary with them whether or not they’ll do it, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask and perhaps they’ll do it and that will be great.”
Fortune said rather than himself, the request would need to come from the BoC chairwoman.
“At any point, it will put that concern to bed based on what their investigation says,” Flowers-Taylor said.
Flowers-Taylor first spoke on this issue during the BoC’s Sept. 24 meeting during which she cited newspaper reports and stated, “…my concern with that is there have been recorded phone conversations not only between Sheriff’s Office employees, but our staff – our legal representative, as well – that indicate that there was a violation of the Sunshine Act in that some of the records were withheld…”
Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam was present for the Oct. 19 Board of Commissioners meeting, but left moments after the motion to request an Attorney General’s Office investigation was approved.
Beam did not immediately respond to The Grip’s later request for comment.

STAFF REPORTS :::

According to Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, a 13-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection to three recent commercial burglaries.
Deputies on Sunday, Oct. 18, arrested the juvenile as he was allegedly in the act of burglarizing a local business, Pings and Dings, located at 2930 North Expressway.
As a result of the investigation, the juvenile was also charged with two previous burglaries that authorities say occurred Oct. 10 and Oct. 17 at the same business.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The Griffin Police Department is investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred early Sunday morning, leaving one man wounded.
According to Investigator Todd Howard, of the GPD Criminal Investigation Division, the shooting took place at 1701 Park Circle and was reported at approximately 3:40 a.m.
Howard said the incident was precipitated by an altercation outside Spalding County.
“A group of people went out to a night club in Clayton County and that’s where the incident escalated from,” he said.
The initial altercation allegedly took place inside the club and spilled over from there.
“In the parking lot, it escalated, but both parties went their separate ways,” Howard said.
The victim and several others in his party then returned to the 701 Park Circle residence where the shooting later occurred.
Authorities have not released a specific number, but say numerous shots were fired into the residence.
“A hail of bullets came through the house. Several rounds were fired through the residence. They meant business; they meant to hurt someone,” Howard said. “Several people were inside the residence, but only one was struck.”
The victim – a man whose identity has not been released – was struck by gunfire and subsequently flown to Atlanta Medical Center for treatment and later released.
Howard said he is not yet releasing details on the type of weapon used in the drive-by, but did refer to it as a “high-caliber firearm,” and said many shots were fired from a vehicle traveling on South Pine Hill Road.

Leslie West, age 34, of 1707 Ridge St., was on Thursday arrested on an outstanding Fayette County warrant after authorities discovered two of her children, along with a third child for whom she is the legal guardian, were living in conditions authorities describe as “deplorable.” Sgt. Kelly McKinney said she intends to seek three additional arrest warrants on charges of first degree cruelty to children. Photo credit: Sheila Mathews

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Three children were removed from their home Wednesday when the Griffin Police Department and the Spalding County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) discovered they were living in conditions authorities describe as “deplorable.”
Sgt. Kelly McKinney, of the GPD Criminal Investigation Division, said she and other law enforcement personnel responded to the residence located at 1707 Ridge St. when DFCS employees were denied access to conduct a welfare check.
“DFCS called because they (the residents) slammed the door in their face. They were doing a welfare check, which they had made multiple attempts to do before, but they would never open the door,” McKinney said. “Yesterday, the homeowner opened the door and invited DFCS in. At that time, the mother of two of the juveniles – and she has custody of the third child – told the homeowner, who’s 81-years-old to shut the door and not let them in without a warrant. That’s when they (DFCS) contacted myself and Sgt. Karen Yancy.”
The elderly homeowner, Agnes Janette Huckaby, also denied entry to law enforcement personnel, stating they would have to obtain a search warrant.
Yancy left the scene and soon obtained a search warrant, but entry still was not immediately granted.
Investigators and DFCS employees had remained at the residence, so it was known Huckaby and the children’s mother and legal guardian, 34-year-old Leslie West, were inside. However, investigators knocked and announced themselves for approximately ten minutes before Huckaby allowed them entrance.
“The residence had an awful stench through the home to the point officers couldn’t enter without Tyvek (protective) suits. It was deplorable, with pet feces and urine all over the home, it was roach infested and there was garbage and molded, rotten food throughout,” McKinney said. “Once suited up, officers still were forced to exit the home multiple times and re-enter.”
Altogether, four adults – Agnes Janette Huckaby, West, April Huckaby and Zane Huckaby – resided in the home and were aware of the conditions in which the three children were living.
City of Griffin Animal Control also responded to the Ridge Street residence and removed 11 dogs and five cats that were living contained inside the home.
West was arrested at the scene for an outstanding failure to appear warrant out of Fayette County, and McKinney said she will be seeking additional warrants for three counts of first degree cruelty to children.
“This is their home. These children didn’t have a choice. This was their normal,” she said.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, and The Grip will follow up with new reports as additional information becomes available.

STAFF REPORT :::

Personnel of the Griffin Police Department Special Investigations Unit with assistance from the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit and the Fayette County Tactical Narcotics Team on Oct. 28 concluded Operation Wheelin’ and Dealin,’ a sale case operation targeting street level drug dealers throughout the city of Griffin and Spalding County.
During the operation, illegal narcotics were purchased from 12 individuals in the city and county. Once the purchases were completed and these individuals were identified, warrants were issued on charges ranging from simple possession to possession with intent to distribute and sale.
Since the Oct. 28 conclusion of the operation, these individuals have been actively sought by local area law enforcement agencies.

The GRIP received information from a confidential source alleging the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit in 2012 conducted an illegal operation involving the placement of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker on a vehicle without court ordered authorization. The GRIP conducted an investigation based on that allegation and the following is the first in a series of articles detailing its findings, including the official responses to numerous Open Records requests submitted to the Sheriff’s Office. Due to the nature of and dangers associated with narcotics investigations, The GRIP WILL NOT be identifying the citizens who were involved in this incident or the exact locations of the various activities involved in the operation.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

A confidential source provided The GRIP with information alleging the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in 2012 conducted an illegal operation by placing a GPS tracker on a vehicle without a court order authorizing agents to do so. This source also alleged agents of the SCSO Special Operations Unit, which conducts the agency’s narcotics investigations, had disabled the vehicle’s tag and/or tail lights to establish probable cause for a subsequent traffic stop.

Upon receipt of this allegation, The Grip submitted an initial Open Records request seeking all information pertaining to Special Operations’ use of a GPS tracker from Nov. 8-13, 2012.

In response to this request, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed the operation was conducted, but denied it was illegal, claiming it was initiated following the receipt of information agents obtained from a confidential informant who was willing to assist in an investigation.

“The confidential informant agreed to have the GPS System installed on his vehicle to aid the agents. The confidential informant suggested disabling of a tail light on his vehicle to provide a reason for the agents to perform a traffic stop on his vehicle. The agents stated that would not be necessary but the confidential informant disabled the tail light himself,” the SCSO response stated. “The confidential informant could not provide a date or time he would have contact with the suspect. It was agreed that when the meeting was set the informant would contact the agents so they could begin monitoring the activity of his vehicle.”

The response went on to claim that during that time, the District Attorney’s office was contacted regarding this operation. According to the Sheriff’s Office, representatives of District Attorney Scott Ballard’s office informed Special Operations agents that based on the confidential informant’s consent, a court order was not required to place the GPS tracker on the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Office response concluded by stating, “The informant never contacted the suspect and the GPS System was never activated. After a few days the system was removed from the informant’s vehicle. Since the events never occurred as stated, there isn’t any documentation as you requested.”

However, The GRIP is in possession of evidence disproving at least a portion of the Sheriff’s Office’s initial response – its assertion the GPS tracker was never activated – in the form of a 112-page tracker report that establishes the equipment was activated on Nov. 8, 2012, and continued to document the vehicle’s precise movements through Nov. 13, 2012.

The report indicates it was generated by ShadowOps, the company from which the tracker was obtained, identifies the client as the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, specifically “Spalding Special Operations,” and documents the total distance traveled from Nov. 8-13, 2012, as 562.22 miles, with the vehicle in motion for 81.71 hours and at rest for 35.85 hours.

The tracker, which the Sheriff’s Office denied was ever activated, for five days documented the precise latitude and longitude of the vehicle, the speed and direction it traveled and the addresses of every location to which it traveled.

To ensure the confidential information received by this newspaper could not be associated with another operation, The GRIP submitted a separate Open Records request seeking the reports of all instances in which Special Operations utilized a GPS tracker for investigative purposes during the month of November 2012.

The response from Capt. Gilles Lalumiere, who heads up the Special Operations Unit, stated, “The only time a tracker was used in November 2012 was around the 8th of November incident. Special Operations DID NOT PRINT a tracking record because the tracker was never monitored and the investigation was terminated before it could begin. The company from whom the tracker was obtained, Shadow Ops, is no longer in business.” (emphasis attributed to Lalumiere)

Publisher’s note: Once the Sheriff’s Office’s initial Open Records response alleging the tracker was never activated was received – a response disputed by the tracker report provided by a confidential source – and it was verified that the tracker was used at no other time during the month of November 2012, The GRIP began to investigate the circumstances surrounding the operation. The next article in this series will be printed Dec. 7, and will outline the actions taken by Sgt. John Corley, of the SCSO Special Operations Unit, who was the case agent in this operation.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Five members of one family were injured in a Sunday afternoon wreck at the intersection of North Expressway and Highway 92.

Three of those injured were children, the youngest being only one-week-old.

According to Sgt. Matt McFarlan, of the Griffin Police Department Uniform Patrol Division, the wreck occurred when a driver allegedly failed to stop at a red light.

A 52-year-old female driver, who authorities are not yet identifying, was traveling southbound on North Expressway in a Pontiac Montana when it struck a Nissan Altima.

“A vehicle (the Pontiac Montana) was traveling southbound on North Expressway towards that major intersection,” said Sgt. Matt McFarland. “They approached the traffic light and according to witnesses, the light turned red and the green arrows came out for the people on 92 that were going to be turning left to go northbound on North Expressway…They had the green arrow and the Nissan Altima pulled out to travel northbound, and the lady who was in the (Montana) minivan attempted to beat the light and the light turned red. She broadsided the Nissan Altima perfectly between the pillars between the driver’s and rear passenger’s door.”

Officer Dawn Storm was the primary officer at the scene, and she reported details of the injuries.

“The father, which was the (Nissan’s) driver, he was flown to Atlanta Medical with chest and neck injuries. I actually have just found out he actually has been discharged,” Storm said Sunday evening. “A three-year-old little boy who was behind him – both he (the father) and the little boy were on the impact side, on the driver’s side – he was also transported by Lifeflight to Egleston. The little boy had an apparent leg injury and a possible head injury.”

The youngest victim, a newborn baby, was transported to Atlanta by Spalding Regional Hospital Emergency Medical Services.

“There was a one-week-old baby girl all the way on the opposite side of the little boy – she was in the rear passenger seat – she was in her car seat and she was taken via ambulance to Egleston for unknown injuries,” Storm said. “There was another girl – a nine-year-old – who was sitting in between the two. She had a hip injury and you could see on her neck where she had her seat belt on where she had abrasions and bruises. She was transported by ambulance to Spalding (Regional Hospital).”

Later Sunday evening, Storm confirmed the two youngest victims have been admitted to Egleston Children’s Hospital for ongoing treatment of their injuries.

The Altima’s only adult female occupant – the children’s mother – also sustained injuries, but refused treatment. Storm reported she complained of head pain, and bruises and abrasions were visible.

“She refused treatment. She was more concerned about her kids,” she said.

The mother rode in the ambulance with her nine-year-old daughter, and members of the family’s church, who were traveling behind the Altima, were able to immediately go to Egleston to be with the two youngest victims.

Storm said the fact that all five Altima passengers were restrained, along with the vehicle’s side-impact airbags, contributed to them not sustaining more extensive injuries.

The Pontiac Montana’s driver was cited with failure to obey a traffic control device.

Since her diagnosis with epilepsy, Maggie Williams has developed an inseparable bond with King, who instinctively began alerting her family to seizures. Maggie and King are in the process of training and testing for King to be officially classified as her service dog. Photo credit: Michael Renew

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Life can change forever in an instant. This is a harsh reality that was faced in 2008 by David and Selena Williams when their daughter, Maggie, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 15.

“According to the doctor, she has it all. She has 36 out of the 40 types of seizures,” Selena said. “They have put her on just about every seizure medication there is to try control her seizures, but it hasn’t worked.”

Maggie has been doing better since being hospitalized in August, her mom said. Previously, she was experiencing up to eight seizures daily, but with changes to her medications, she has perhaps six to eight grand mal seizures weekly.

“It’s been cut down a whole, whole lot. They started working with a lot of her medications because she was on 11 different ones. They took her off of some and reduced some others,” Selena said. “Even though she’s down to six to eight grand mal seizures a week, she’s still having all the different types of seizures. She still has all the other symptoms that comes along with it. We’re not going through eight grand mal seizures a day, though, and I’m so thankful for that.”

Selena said they never know what to anticipate from one day to the next, and that their lives have changed in ways they never imagined.

“It’s scary. It really is. As a mom, I don’t really even know how to answer that besides saying I’ve had to change everything. We’re still adjusting and working with how to deal with everything,” she said. “I guess the biggest impact it’s had on my life is knowing there’s nothing I can really do to help my child. You know, as a mother, you try to fix everything for your kids. You’ll do anything it takes to make things right for your kids, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Despite the challenges and uncertainty every day brings, the Williams have found help they never could have anticipated – from their family dog, King.

“He started behaving very strangely. He started barking a whole lot more and running back and forth between us and Maggie,” Selena said. “He was doing things that I didn’t even realize to alert us that Maggie was fixing to have a seizure. He would run and jump on our bed, sit there and look at us, so, from then on, I have been able to watch King and how he acts around Maggie. I know that about 10 minutes after he starts, Maggie is going to have a seizure.”

They have been working with local expert Kerri Gebler, but Selena said King is not yet able to be officially classified as a service animal.

“It’s like Kerri said, he’s already trained himself to deal with her seizures. He’s just got to learn a few more things like how to not hurt her when she has a seizure,” she said. “I’ve never seen a dog firsthand to do it. I’ve heard of service dogs for the handicapped and the blind, but a seizure dog that actually deals with the seizure when someone is having them? King is amazing. God knew what he was doing when he let David bring those dogs home. I don’t know where we’d be now if it wasn’t for King. He’s actually saved her life on several occasions because of him alerting us and how he is with her when she has a seizure.”

Maggie and King have developed an incredible bond, one that cannot be shaken by her medical condition.

“He’s been kicked, he’s been hit, he’s been bit. I mean, if I was King, I would run and hide, but it doesn’t matter what happens to him when she has a seizure. King always runs back to her,” Selena said.

King has also given Selena and David a greater sense of peace than they knew was possible under their family’s circumstances.

“It helps her to know he’s with her. It’s a comfort. That’s why we’re trying so hard to get the funds to train his public access training and his public access vest and everything else we have to do. When we leave this house, he knows he’s supposed to be with Maggie and Maggie knows that she’s supposed to be with him. Until we finish up with all the public access needs, there are places Maggie can’t go because King can’t go with her,” she said.

With the improvements Maggie has already made, her family is hopeful that will soon become even greater.

She has now been approved for treatment with low-THC cannabis oil and Selena hopes Maggie will soon be able to begin that treatment. She said her doctor is hopeful he may be able to discontinue her other prescription medications.

Thoughout this time, Selena has not only worked to care for Maggie, but also to help educate the public.

“I didn’t know anything about this until Maggie started having seizures back in March 2008. It’s been seven years now,” she said.

Unfortunately, many false perceptions about epilepsy and other seizure disorders remain.

“I have had a lot of issues. We went to Wal-Mart one day and Maggie had a seizure. I had a mother walk up behind me who told her child not to get too close to her because Maggie was contagious and she could get it and die,” Selena said.

To fight this, Selena has created a Facebook page to help educate the community. It can be found at Facebook. com/Ga.purplepeacheseap.

If you are willing to financially assit Maggie and King with the remainder of his public access training and vest, you may call 678.895.768. Donations may also be made through PayPal at ga.purplepeacheseap@ yahoo.com.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Following the Nov. 21 res­ignation of Steve Heaton, who served as chief of the Griffin Police Department since April 2014, Capt. Ho­mer Daniel, as the senior commanding officer, has been named interim chief.

Griffin City Manager Ken­ny Smith said Daniel will hold that position until the hiring process has been completed, which he esti­mates will be in early 2016.

The application period closed earlier in November and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP) has begun its screening process.

“They’re (the GACP) doing an assessment center. It’s a three-part assessment. The first part is actually a test – a validated test – the second part is a scenario-based as­sessment and the third part is an oral interview,” Smith explained.

Smith said he would have preferred to have a new chief hired prior to Heaton’s departure, but said he antic­ipates the process will not be completed for months.

“I would’ve liked to have had one before Chief Hea­ton left, but obviously it didn’t. The Chief’s Associa­tion has to operate on their schedule because they’re involved in a lot of other things, so I think they’re trying to have their assessment either the first or second week in December,” he said. “After that, then of course, they will give us the results of their assessment and then it will be up to us to do some interviews with those finalist and then back­ground investigations and the whole nine yards. I’m ex­pecting realistically, with the holidays coming up, I would expect it would be the end of January or beginning of February at the earliest.”

Smith said the city’s con­tract with GACP specifies the applicant list will be nar­rowed to eight finalist who will be invited to participate in the assessment process.

“Then they’ll give us the scores for the eight that they put through the process,” Smith said. “With the process being so involved, there’s no way they could put 25 or 30 people through the process. That would just be too cum­bersome.”

There are some in the community who are calling specifically for the hiring of a chief from within the de­partment, while some have expressed their belief that now is the time for the city of Griffin Police Department to be led by its first black chief.

To garner support for hir­ing an internal candidate, a petition is being circulated for later presentation to city officials.

When asked if that peti­tion would impact the hiring decision, Smith said, “No, we don’t hire any employee based on a petition or based on what somebody thinks they know. We hire based on the best person for the job and there are a lot of differ­ent circumstances that go into determining the best person for the job. I’m not saying that Capt. Daniel, if he applied, wouldn’t be the best person for the job, but we don’t take petitions into consideration. I mean, there are a lot of factors to con­sider that are internal fac­tors that people who sign a petition have no idea about what’s going on in the de­partment or in the city inter­nally, so we have to take a lot of things into consideration.”

With regard to citizens who have expressed a pref­erence for a black chief, Smith said race will not be a factor in the decision making process.

“We don’t hire anybody, we don’t make any employ­ment decisions based on race, religion, background, sex, national origin – I couldn’t care less. I’d be just as happy with a purple police chief as I would with a green police chief as long as they’re the best person for the job. There are a lot of factors that go into consideration to make sure the right person is put in the right place at the right time,” Smith said. “You know, John Doe could be the best police chief in the whole world, but if he’s not compatible with the rest of the team, if he’s not compat­ible with the city of Griffin, if he doesn’t have ideas about how to solve problems that are unique to the city of Grif­fin, then he may not be a fit for the city of Griffin. Just because someone appears to be the most qualified on paper, the best looking, the most polished, it’s got to be the right person at the right time. The right person for the job at the right time – I don’t care if they’re inside the de­partment, outside the de­partment, from Griffin, from Timbuktu. I don’t care. I’ve got to find the right person for the job at the right time at the right place.”

Smith expressed he will be basing the final hiring decision on information with which the community at-large may be unfamiliar.

“I have to make decisions based on what I know to be the personality of the de­partment, the issues within that department, the good points, the weaknesses, the strengths and how some­one would best fit in to that department and to the city of Griffin. Every department has a unique personality; every city has a unique per­sonality; and every person has a unique personality, so it’s my job to determine how those different personalities are going to mesh together for the benefit of the citizens of Griffin,” he said. “We’ve still got some challenges inter­nally, some challenges exter­nally in the city of Griffin, so we’ve got to find the right fit to take on the challenges we have.”

Asked to cite the top chal­lenges he sees the city fac­ing, Smith said, “We’ve got crime issues. I mean, we have neighborhoods where peo­ple can’t sleep at night for hearing gunshots, and we’ve got to go outside the normal realm of reactionary police work to find creative solu­tions to some of those prob­lems. We’ve got gang issues. We’ve got to have somebody who has some experience level in dealing with that kind of issue who has some creative ideas as to how stop those things. I’m not preach­ing doom and gloom in the community; it’s just the re­ality. We’ve got drug issues out there. I’ve got to have somebody who has expe­rience and knowledge in dealing with some of those kind of issues that we have,” he said. “We have a diverse community. I’ve got to have somebody who’s got experi­ence working with a diverse community, and when I say diverse, I’m not necessar­ily talking about race. I’m talking about the north end of the town is mostly com­mercial. We have commer­cial pockets and we’ve got residential pockets. We’ve got affluent neighborhoods and we’ve got substandard neighborhoods. I mean, Griffin is somewhat unique in the different issues that we face and I’ve got to have somebody who has experi­ence with law enforcement with different areas in one community. I’ve got to have a leader. I’ve got to have somebody who’s ethical beyond reproach, who has the leadership skills that are needed to move that de­partment forward.”

Smith said once the GCPA has completed its assess­ment process, the top eight candidates’ results will be submitted for his review. Based on those results, he will determine which candi­dates will be interviewed for the chief’s position.

“I hope to narrow it down some, but if the results are close enough that I need to interview all eight of them, then I’ll interview all eight of them. After I get the list and interview, it will be just a background investigation from that point forward,” he said. “I’m looking for a lot of things and I don’t know that person is out there. I don’t know if there’s the per­fect person out there who’s skilled and experienced in all those areas, so I’ve got to find the best person to meet some of those challenges.”

Under the city’s govern­mental structure, the final hiring decision will be made by Smith and does not re­quire additional approval.

“It’s on me. That’s my job,” Smith said. ­

STAFF REPORTS :::

Recently Sheila A. Mathews published an article in the GRIP which indicated members of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office engaged in an illegal narcotics investigation in 2012. This incident is not involved in a current litigation process; therefore I am at liberty to respond to Sheila A. Mathew’s article.

In November 2012, members of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit were involved in an investigation. An individual in this investigation offered to provide information to the Agents. This individual volunteered to provide information on another person who was involved in illegal drug trafficking. The individual involved in the investigation and who had authority over the vehicle gave permission to the Agents to install a tracking device on the vehicle. The individual agreed to notify the Agents when he had contact with the person who was trafficking illegal drugs. The purpose of the tracking device was to enable the Agents to follow the movement of the vehicle at that time.

The tracking device was installed on the vehicle with the voluntary consent of the operator. The operator was told to notify the Agents when a meeting was arranged with the person trafficking drugs.

The tracking device used by the Agents is automatically activated when it is installed. The activity or location of the vehicle is not known by the Agents unless they Monitor the log created by the device. The tracking system creates an activity log available to Agents.

In this case the Agents did not Monitor the log. They were waiting to be notified when contact would be made with the person trafficking drugs.

The individual operating the vehicle did not contact the Agents and they did not monitor the vehicles activities. After approximately a week contact was made between the Agents and the individual. Since no contact had been made with the person trafficking drugs the tracking device was removed and that investigation ended.

During the investigation the Agents contacted a member of the District Attorney’s Office. The Assistant District Attorney confirmed that they did not need a Court Order to install the tracking device when the operator gave consent to have it installed.

Since the investigation did not result in any arrest or recovery of illegal drugs the tracking log was never printed nor was the activity of the vehicle Monitored. The Agent in charge did not print the log nor did he authorize any other Agents in the unit to print the log.

The article by Shelia A. Mathews states she is in possession of a 112 page tracker report. Since it was never authorized to print the tracking log, the question is “how did she come to be in possession of it?” The company that sold the tracking device is no longer in business.

I want to take this opportunity to insure the citizens of Griffin and Spalding County, that as your Sheriff, I maintain a high standard of conduct for myself and all my employees. We strive to provide the highest level of conduct at all times within the limits of the law.

STAFF REPORT :::

According to Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, the Special Operations Unit on Thursday, Dec. 3, arrested two women – a mother and daughter – on charges of trafficking illegal drugs.

The two suspects were identified as 55-year-old Sarah Ponce, of 88 Sims Cemetery Road, Franklin, and 36-year-old Carrie A. Ornelas, of 7735 Lot B-17, Tara Boulevard.

Beam reports at the time of their arrest, the pair was in possession of 5.7 ounces of crystal methamphetamine with a street value in excess of $8,000 and 1.4 grams of cocaine, which has a street value of $75.

Ponce and Ornelas were both charged with one count each of trafficking methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine.

Both women were denied bond and are being held in the Spalding County Jail.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Upon receipt of information from a confidential source pertaining to a November 2012 operation conducted by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit, The GRIP began compiling information utilizing public records available through Georgia’s Open Records Act.

In response to The GRIP’s initial Open Records request seeking information on this operation, the Sheriff’s Office stated that Special Operations agents had received information regarding illegal drugs from a confidential informant (CI) who was willing to assist and allowed agents to install a GPS tracker installed on his vehicle. The response also alleged the CI suggested disabling a tail light on his vehicle to provide agents with probable cause to conduct a later traffic stop, but when agents told him that wouldn’t be necessary, the CI disabled his own tail light.

Because the CI was uncertain when he would make contact with the suspect, it was agreed that he would contact agents when a meeting was scheduled so they could begin monitoring his vehicle’s activities. Furthermore, the Sheriff’s Office alleged that meeting was never scheduled and the GPS tracker was never activated and was removed after only a few days.

However, among the information provided to The GRIP was a 112-page report that contradicts the Sheriff’s Office assertion the tracker was never activated as it provides a detailed summary of the vehicle’s movements from Nov. 8-13, 2012.

Through its investigation, The GRIP established the GPS tracker was placed on the vehicle immediately following a traffic stop conducted by Special Operations Sgt. John Corley.

Corley’s report makes no mention of a tracker being placed on the vehicle in question, but the Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the device was not used in any other investigation during November 2012, which establishes Corley as the case agent in the operation in question.

Prior to beginning this series of articles, The GRIP made numerous attempts to obtain clarification from Sheriff Wendell Beam. In addition to multiple phone calls to Beam’s office and cell phone, as well as attempts to contact him by text message and email, The GRIP on Nov. 9 emailed to Beam a list of questions pertaining to this operation. Beam was also advised this newspaper is in possession of the tracker report that established the tracker was activated.

Beam has never responded to any of those numerous attempts to clarify the questions raised by his initial Nov. 6 Open Records response.

More than three weeks later, though, Beam did issue a press release admitting the tracker was activated when it was installed on the vehicle in question. In that Dec. 4 press release, Beam also repeatedly stated that while it was functioning, the tracker was never monitored.

Although Beam now acknowledges that his office’s initial Open Records response was inaccurate, he continues to maintain the tracker was not monitored.

Despite that denial, the report indicates the tracker was issuing alerts.

During the five days the device was on the vehicle, eight separate and specific alerts were generated, and The GRIP has learned that Special Operations agents would have received those alerts in the form of text messages to their cell phones or via email.

The first alert issued by the tracker occurred at 7:52 p.m., less than 20 minutes after it was activated and while it was still in the same location where Special Operations placed it on the vehicle.

Furthermore, additional information from the tracker report raises questions of whether the GPS system was remotely manipulated while it was active on the vehicle.

It repeatedly indicates the device did not maintain a standard interval when updating the vehicle’s location. While the tracker at times refreshed with exacting precision – down to the correct second with intervals ranging from five seconds to one minute – there was an extremely wide disparity over the course of the five-day period, at times ranging from only one second to many minutes.

The report, which provides extremely detailed information regarding activities including the date, precise time to the second, latitude and longitude, address, city, state, direction of travel and speed, indicates the vehicle left Spalding County on more than one occasion with no alert generated.

On later dates, though, when the vehicle left Spalding County, the tracker generated a specific alert cited as a geofence, which is a virtual boundary used to mark a geographic area.

That the tracker did not begin to generate these geofence alerts until after it had left Spalding County on more than one occasion, it raises the question of whether the geofence parameters were established after the tracker was activated.

One example was noted Nov. 11, 2012, when at 5:19 p.m., the vehicle was documented entering Fayette County on Highway 92. While no alert was then generated, the tracker did document the vehicle re-entering Spalding County on the same road at 6:02 p.m.. Less than 45 minutes later, a geofence was active in the system and an alert was issued to agents signaling it had crossed back over into Spalding County.

After more than four weeks of attempting all means possible to obtain answers to the questions raised by the tracker report and other information, neither Sheriff Wendell Beam nor Capt. Gilles Lalumiere have responded.

Publisher’s note – The Dec. 21 edition of The GRIP will detail specifically how Sgt. John Corley initiated this GPS tracker operation and will respond to additional claims made by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in response to The GRIP’s research and this series of articles.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Three Griffin residents lost their lives Saturday night in a residential structure fire at 220 Day St.

According to Griffin Fire-Rescue Chief Tommy Jones, fire units arrived on the scene at approximately 10:05 p.m. and found the home fully-involved with flames showing through the roof.

Spalding County Coroner Sonny Foster has identified the victims as 75-year-old Mary J. Fears, her boyfriend, 82-year-old Andrew Foster and Fears’ 54-year-old son, Terry Jones.

“The son (Terry Jones) was a couple of doors down at 10:05 p.m. He went running back up and tried to go back in and get them out, but was overcome by smoke,” Chief Jones said.

Upon their arrival, officers of the Griffin Police Department located Terry Jones at the front door where officials say he was overcome by heavy smoke.

“Police officers saw his shoes and grabbed him,” Chief Jones said.

Once the fire was controlled, firefighters made a search of the house and located the two elderly victims.

Fears was found in the living room, not far from her son, and Andrew Foster was discovered in the back bathroom.

Sonny Foster said Fears was pronounced dead at the scene and Terry Jones and Andrew Foster were transported in cardiac arrest to the emergency room of Spalding Regional Hospital where they were later pronounced dead.

As of Sunday morning, the bodies were awaiting transport to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab where full autopsies will be performed.

Sonny Foster said he anticipates the causes of death will be ruled smoke inhalation – carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chief Jones said the initial investigation indicates Fears’ and Foster’s bedroom was the fire’s point of origin, but the exact cause has not been determined.

“We’re looking at a lamp, but we don’t have a cause yet,” he said.

One firefighter also sustained injuries in the incident.

“He suffered burns to his face and ears. He was taken to the emergency room, treated and released back into service,” Chief Jones said.

This tragedy marks the first fire-related deaths in the city of Griffin since 2005, Chief Jones reported.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The Griffin Police Department Special Investigations Unit, with the assistance of the Power Squad and Uniform Patrol Division, on Friday, Dec. 11, executed a search warrant resulting in four arrests and the seizure of narcotics.

The warrant was executed at 362 N. 19^th St. Apartment G in the Pleasant Valley Apartments.

Agents located more than 95 rocks of crack cocaine with an approximate street value of $1,900. Other items commonly used in the distribution of cocaine were also located.

Arrested were Willie Edward Stuart, age 46, of the same address, who was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of drug related objects; Danielle Maynor, age 61, of the same address, who was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug related objects; Eugene Dexter, age 64, of the same address, who was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug related objects; and Derrick Blackshear, age 44, of 1682 N. 2^nd St. Extension, who was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Bleckley County.

According to SIU Special Agent in Charge Tony Thomason, the search warrant resulted from community complaints.

“This investigation stemmed from complaints called in by the community. Agent (Travis) Wick was able to obtain the needed information to apply for a search warrant and we executed it today,” Thomason said. “We are here to help rid the community of drug dealers and other bad actors. We appreciate the community partnering with us. I would like to remind everyone they can call and provide information to us on our drug tip line. If you choose to remain anonymous, you can.”

The GPD Special Investigation Unit drug tip line number is 678.692.0452.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The GRIP has confirmed that the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 30 requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) conduct a criminal investigation to identify a confidential source who has provided information to this publication.

Following the receipt of information from a confidential source, The GRIP has since Sept. 30 been conducting an investigation of a November 2012 Special Operations Unit narcotics investigation in which a GPS tracker was utilized. One piece of information received was a 112-page tracker report detailing its use from Nov. 8-13, 2012.

According to GBI Region 2 Field Office Special Agent In Charge Fred Wimberly, the request from the S.C.S.O. involved that specific report.

“The request was in reference to the leak at the Sheriff’s Office with regard to that GPS information, and the request was denied on Nov. 30, 2015,” said Special Agent In Charge Fred Wimberly, of the GBI Region 2 Office. “The request was made by (Capt.) Tony Ranieri (head of the Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division). It was made by Tony. Now, whether he was directed by the Sheriff, I do not know. You’ll have to talk Tony, but sometimes that can happen where a request can be made by a CID investigator or the chief investigator via the sheriff and/or the police chief or whoever.”

When asked if the GBI considers such requests to have come from the agency head, Wimberly said yes.

“The agency head can delegate that responsibility to have an agent or investigator give us a call,” he said.

By law, the GBI may only investigate criminal cases. Wimberly explained the basis for his office denying the Sheriff’s Office’s request to conduct an investigation to identify The GRIP’s confidential source.

“We don’t see anything criminal about the information and how it got to the media,” he said.

In a separate interview, he elaborated upon the request and denial, both of which occurred the same day.

“The information with regards to the so-called GPS – we’re not involved in that investigation. We were asked to investigate that, but we’re not involved. We’re not going to investigate,” he said, later adding. “We don’t see anything at this point that’s criminal in nature…..The GPS information and whatever it is that’s going on with the GPS information and a confidential informant, we are not involved with that. We are not investigating it.”

There are currently two active GBI investigations involving the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office. The first pertains to David Gibson, the former captain of the S.O.’s Uniform Patrol Division, and was requested by Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard.

The second investigation was requested by Beam Aug. 6 to determine if there is a “leak” in his office. Although the GBI declined to investigate and attempt to identify The GRIP’s confidential source, agents are continuing its previous investigation.

Capt. Tony Ranieri and Sheriff Wendell Beam did not respond to The GRIP’s attempts to seek comment for this article.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Officials of the Griffin Police Department say all four Griffin High School students videotaped fighting in a boy’s restroom Monday, Dec. 7, were voluntary participants.
According to Lt. Mike Natale, of the Office of the Chief, the four GHS students fought over a false allegation of stolen shoes.
He said the incident began in the school cafeteria when a 15-year-old student told his 18-year-old cousin, Martinius Carr, that another male student seated at the other end of the table was wearing a pair of his shoes that had been stolen during a November residential burglary.
“He said those are my shoes that guy has on. They were stolen in a burglary at my house and I know they’re mine. He said will you go over there and talk to him and get my shoes back or threaten him?” Natale said. “So, he (Carr) doesn’t do it. He tells another guy and that kid goes over and tells him, ‘Hey, so and so says you’ve got his shoes. You stole them in a burglary. I know you’ve got them and we’re going to get them back. We’re going to get them back by any means necessary. If we have to, we’ll fight you for them.’”
Natale said the student accused of wearing the stolen shoes was the one who suggested they fight.
“The (accused) kid said I don’t know what you’re talking about. These are my shoes, but I’ll fight you anyway, so let’s go to the bathroom,” Natale stated.
Investigators say the student who was accused of wearing stolen shoes has not admitted to that statement, but footage from the cafeteria’s video surveillance camera supports that allegation, which was made by the student who was acting as messenger between the two pairs of boys.
The four fight participants, led by the student accused of stealing the shoes and who was accompanied by a second student, followed by Carr and his cousin who made the original allegation, then left the cafeteria, went to the boy’s restroom and began fighting.
The fight was videotaped by students in the restroom, posted to YouTube and subsequently shared on a number of local forums on Facebook, where many residents were alarmed by the incident.
For quite a few, this incident once again brought to the forefront the question of whether school systems’ Zero Tolerance policies, under which all students involved in physical confrontations may be subject to negative disciplinary action, disregards the necessity of self defense in some incidents.
When asked if any of the students involved in the fight were exercising self defense, Natale said, “The kid that’s the victim of the robbery said to the middle man, who was the messenger, ‘I don’t have his shoes; these are my shoes, but I’ll fight you anyway. Tell him I’ll fight him anyway.’ I don’t see how it could be self defense when he orchestrated the fight.”
Natale said the original accusation alleging the student was wearing stolen shoes has been proven false by the boy’s mother, who provided evidence the shoes did, in fact, belong to her son.
“It turns out those were the kid’s shoes. They weren’t the ones from the burglary,” Natale said, adding the mother provided authorities with a receipt indicating they were purchased at Hibbett Sports Jan. 6, 2015.
All four students have been charged with affray, a misdemeanor, and Carr, the only adult involved in the incident, has been charged with an additional count of robbery, a felony that carries a potential sentence of one to 20 years imprisonment.

STAFF REPORT :::

Cpl. Chris Wilson, of the Griffin Police Department Uniform Patrol Division, is being credited with saving the life of a distraught woman.
On Dec. 4, Wilson was dispatched to the Ellis Bridge Road in reference to a woman believed to be attempting suicide by jumping off the bridge.
Upon arrival, Wilson found the woman on the top rail of the bridge with her feet dangling off the edge. He engaged her in conversation and confirmed she was contemplating suicide.
During the course of their conversation, Wilson maneuvered himself closer to her while reassuring her that he was there to help and that he did not want her to jump.
From that position, Wilson was able to grab the woman and pull her back over the rail to safety while continuing to tell her that her life is worth living and reassuring her she was going to be all right.
The entire incident was captured on Wilson’s body camera, and after reviewing the footage, Interim Chief Homer Daniel said, “There is no doubt that Cpl. Wilson’s response and actions saved her life. This event once again demonstrates the wide variety of situations that police officers across the country respond to each and every day with caring and compassion.”
The GRIP has requested the body camera footage and will share it when it is made available.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The city of Griffin Board of Commissioners has approved an ordinance prohibiting aggressive panhandling.
As specified in the ordinance,“solicitations for immediate
donations of cash, food or other things of value in an aggressive manner” is now a criminal offense in Griffin.
City officials made clear this ordinance is in response to residents’ complaints, but it does not prohibit all panhandling which has been ruled protected speech by the Supreme Court of the United States.
“We’ve gotten complaints, especially in our downtown commercial district, about panhandlers and panhandling is really First Amendment protected, so it would have to be
aggressive panhandling for us to prohibit it, and aggressive
panhandling is defined in the ordinance,” said City Manager Kenny Smith.
In drafting the ordinance, City Attorney Drew Whalen researched those of other municipalities and conferred with Griffin Police Department Chief Steve Heaton.
“We feel like it will (hold up in court),” Smith said. “I really haven’t had complaints of aggressive panhandling.
Most of the complaints we get are really pretty passive. This would certainly protect the public from anything
that turns aggressive, but I don’t remember any complaints
on aggressive panhandling.”
Some local governments have established ordinances that also prohibit panhandling in certain public locations, but Smith sad Whalen advised prohibiting this type of panhandling is the only option officials have.
“Yes, we considered it, but we felt like this ordinance would be better served. We’re essentially saying that panhandling in itself, if you’re homeless or in need or whatever, is allowed. It’s the aggressive manner that we’re prohibiting, which if you’re homeless or in need or whatever, it doesn’t give you the authority to be aggressive
or touch somebody or put them in fear of bodily harm,” Smith said.
According to the new ordinance, the act of panhandling is defined as, “any solicitation made in person upon a street, public way, public place including any park or plaza, or on public or private property open to the public for general business use in which a person solicits an immediate donation of money, gratuity or other thing of value from
another person, and includes,but is not limited to,seeking donations of cash.”
Now illegal in the city of Griffin is, “Panhandling while at any time before, during or after the solicitation
physically touching the solicited person without the solicited person’s express prior consent, so as to create fear or apprehension or bodily harm by the solicited person; panhandling a person while such person is standing in line or waiting to be admitted to a general business establishment, show or event; while waiting in a parked motor vehicle; or while occupying a standing motor vehicle, either in stopped or standing traffic on a roadway or in a
drive-thru line at a general business establishment; panhandling by intentionally and physically obstructing the path of the solicited person or blocking entry by the solicited person to any building or vehicle; panhandling while intentionally following behind, alongside or ahead of the solicited person who walks away from the panhandler to avoid being solicited; panhandling while using profanity or abusive language either during the solicitation or following a refusal to make a donation, or making any
statement, gesture or other communicative action that
would cause a reasonable person to be fearful for his
safety or intimidated not to make a donation; panhandling
in a group of two or more persons; or panhandling between the hours of 11:00 o’clock p.m. and 6:00 o’clock a.m.”
The ordinance goes on to specify what actions will not be deemed aggressive panhandling such as solicitations seeking a contribution or donation to be paid at a future date and time; the act of passively standing or sitting with a sign indicating a donation will be accepted and which may or may not be accompanied by the selling of an item of little to no monetary value, unless within 25 feet of a business entrance or an automated teller machine; the performing of music, singing or other similar street performance commonly
known as busking with a sign or other indication donations will be accepted; and the sale of goods or merchandise including food and drinks by a vendor during a sanctioned street festival or similar event.
The ordinance’s sanctions include a an initial warning
following by a citation to appear in Municipal Court.
The fine for aggressive panhandling will not exceed $1,000 “with the alternative of other punishment allowed by law in the event such fine is not paid; to sentence such person to community service work; or to impose a sentence consisting of any combination of the penalties provided for
herein.”
Furthermore, each act of aggressive panhandling will be considered a separate offense.
Like Smith, Heaton said he has received no official reports or complaints of aggressive panhandling, but has heard stories of it allegedly occurring, and he believes this ordinance respects individuals’ right to free speech while also protecting residents.
“Most of what we’ve been dealing with downtown and other places is not aggressive panhandling. It’s panhandling, but it’s not aggressive panhandling, but I have heard stories of
what I believe crosses over. I think in that aspect, I think
it will be helpful,” Heaton said. “I don’t know that it’s
gonna help us with what some folks have described that is going on in different parts of the city whether it be downtown or Wal-Mart because some of that is not aggressive panhandling, but it will certainly allow for us that in those cases where we can show the elements of that ordinance, we’ll be able to remove them from the area and stop them from the aggressive panhandling.”
He has already been preparing GPD officers on the procedural requirements of enforcing the new ordinance.
“We’re doing some roll call training on it and we’re going over it and of course we’ve placed it on our internal policy system so that the officers will have to read it and acknowledge that they’ve read it so they understand what the boundaries are,” he said. “What I don’t want to do is create a First Amendment issue by an officer not understanding what his role and responsibilities are versus
what their rights are.”
Heaton also stressed that this is not a singular approach to the issue.
“We’re not just taking an enforcement approach,” he stressed, adding that he along with other officials have been working with two different homeless coalitions. “We’re trying to address people who are in need, as well, so we’re doing both things. It’s not one over the another,” he said.
“We’re trying to be sympathetic to people who are in a bad situation or that need help from those that are just out making $200 or $300 because they don’t want to work.”

STAFF REPORT :::

The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 30-year-old Christine L. Ruschmeier, also known as Christine Green.
Ruschmeier is a white female standing 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds. She has blue eyes and blonde hair, but she changes her hair color to red, blue and other assorted colors.
Ruschmeier also has numerous tattoos including one of a fish on her right arm and Tweety Bird on her left arm.
She was last seen July 15, 2015, in Spalding County.
Anyone who may have information regarding Ruschmeier’s whereabouts is asked to call the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office at 770-467-4282 or your local law enforcement agency.

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office on Monday conducted an operation resulting in the closure of a local business, Open Box Freight.

The GRIP contacted Sheriff Wendell Beam for information, but he declined to comment, stating only that he will issue a press release later this week.

The GRIP asked Beam to confirm information obtained from a confidential source citing the action was undertaken by the Special Operations Unit, which handles narcotics operations, but Beam said only that pertinent details will be released later.

He did confirm Open Box Freight is closed for business.

The GRIP will follow this developing story and report additional information as it becomes available.