From Bryan County Sheriff ’s Office reports:
Note: This is in an effort to give subscribers an idea of what law enforcement officers run across during their shifts. It is by no means a comprehensive account of the number of cases handled by law enforcement and first responders.
Matter of record: A deputy was sent to a Richmond Hill address on Sept. 15 “in reference to a drone following someone.”
There, the deputy met with a man “who advised me that a drone had flown into his way while he was driving down Belfast Keller Road,” then “pointed at some trees and advised me that a drone was flying in the trees, but I could not see it. (The man) then jumped on his skateboard and skated down the road, saying it would follow him. (He) then pointed to the sky, saying it was right there, but again I was unable to see or her a drone.”
The man “then stated that Bryan County was the one using the drone against him and following him. He also advised this had been going on for years.” The deputy “advised” the man the county didn’t own any drones and “that he might want to see a doctor.”
DUI: A deputy on I-95 around 3 p.m. Sept. 11 “responded to a wrecker being stopped in the middle lane of I-95 South near the 90 mile post,” and asked the driver, a South Carolina man, what happened.
“(HE) stated that the vehicle just quit on him. (He) then asked if I could push off him off the interstate. (He) then jumped in the wrecker and then got back out.”
The man “appeared disoriented and had a strong odor of an alcoholic like beverage coming from his person.” He told the deputy he was heading to Rock Hill, S.C., and had just left a motel where his girlfriend was staying.
The man denied drinking or taking medications, but flunked a field sobriety test and also blew a .183 on a preliminary breath test, etc. He was arrested. The Beaufort, S.C., company that owned the wrecker was told where it was.
DUI drugs, etc: Deputies were sent to the Arby’s drive through in Black Creek on Sept. 16 regarding “a female that was passed out behind the wheel of a red (Ford) in the line to order food. The report was when she woke up she was very confused and disorientated.”
The 40-year-old woman “seemed to have difficulty in making complete sentences and was rambling about how she hadn’t been asleep behind the wheel that she was on her phone, then she was looking for something but she was never out,” a report said, noting deputies smelled pot and ”had her move forward so the people coming behind her in the line could get their orders and leave.”
The woman also had a hard time standing up once she was asked to get out of the car. A drug dog alerted on the car and deputies found bags of what was believed to be pot and meth.
The woman said the drugs belonged to her brother and claimed all she’d taken that day was Xanax. She was arrested.
Obstruction: Deputies were sent to Highway 17 around 5:30 a.m. Sept. 16 regarding a “disabled vehicle call,” in which the 23-year-old female driver “was argumentative and dismissive towards deputies and (the tow truck driver)” and admitted earlier to smoking pot.
“(She) was advised by deputies that since her vehicle was disabled and her admittance to using marijuana, she was not to drive the vehicle anywhere.”
The woman said she wanted her vehicle towed to her home in Savannah, and the tow truck driver “agreed to tow the vehicle to her residence for $300 but advised that he would not take her home.”
The woman “then proceeded to get into the driver’s seat of her vehicle and said she was going to pull the vehicle onto the wrecker instead of letting (the tow truck driver) drive her vehicle,” the report said, adding that after a bunch of argument the woman “attempted to get into the passenger side of the wrecker.”
The woman was told “multiple times that we were giving her a ride home and she was unable to drive, (she) began to argue with the wrecker driver of where the vehicle was going,” and argued to the point deputies told the tow truck driver to refund her money and tow her vehicle to the company’s impound lot because it was a road hazard.
Deputies continued to try to give her a ride home despite her saying she wanted to be left on the side of 17, because “we could not leave her on the side of the road due to her impairment as she could possibly wander out in the road, which she had done multiple times during the entire interaction.”
After being given the choice between getting “taken to her residence by deputies or (going) to jail for obstruction, (the woman) refused to be taken home.” So, she was taken to jail.
Assist motorist: A deputy on Highway 280 on Sept. 11 saw a pickup turn onto the highway from 204 and “while they were making the turn the strap holding their flooring in the bed of the truck came loose and dumped a portion of the load onto the roadway.” The deputy turned around and hit his emergency lights “to keep traffic off of them while the load was being picked up.”
Then “the female passenger existed the vehicle and was attempting to stack the load back up when she swayed and then fell to the roadway hitting her head.” The deputy got out and gave her first aid until EMS arrived and took her to the hospital, then “went and assisted a motorist who had a flat tire on Highway 204 across from the location where the load had been dumped.”
DUI: A deputy on I-16 on Sept. 11 was sent to the weigh station regarding a pickup “parked on the side on the road in the lane of travel,” and found the pickup. He also found the driver, passed out in the driver’s seat with an open beer in the driver’s side cup holder. The pickup’s engine was running, the deputy found an open bottle of Crown Royal in the center console and two firearms. The driver was charged with DUI under 21. A passenger, who got a ride, was allowed to take both weapons with him.