The following information was compiled from reports from the Richmond Hill Police Department:
Jan. 16
Driving under the influence — After seeing a vehicle on Highway 25 fail to maintain its lane — hitting the shoulder line three times, once crossing it completely with its right-side tires, and almost striking a curb while making a left turn in the Live Oak Subdivision — an officer pulled the vehicle over.
The officer noticed an alcohol odor while speaking with the driver. When the driver got out of the vehicle at the officer’s request, she was unsteady on her feet and confused.
The driver said she had been drinking that day, with her last drink coming about four hours earlier, and that she was driving from Jacksonville. She was unable to complete a horizontal-gaze test, and a breath test showed a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.2.
The driver was arrested and taken to the police department.
Jan. 18
Matter of record — An officer went to a vehicle with an elderly male inside it on the southbound side of Interstate 95 near exit 90. The male said his vehicle was dead and that he was trying to start it. However, when the officer asked him where he was going, the male couldn’t tell him. When asked for his driver’s license, the male couldn’t find his wallet and gave his name and date of birth instead.
The officer ran the vehicle’s tags and got a warning that the male was a missing person with Alzheimer’s disease. The officer told dispatch to contact the reporting agency in Bluffton, South Carolina, that the male had been found.
An ambulance was called to check on the male, who was then transported to Memorial Hospital. The officer contacted the male’s wife by phone. She said she would pick up her husband the next morning when she could get a ride. The male’s vehicle was towed.
Jan. 19
Hit-and-run, duty to stop at the scene of an accident — An officer was sent to the Exchange Street Shopping Center for a report of a hit-and-run.
The complainant didn’t know what type of vehicle hit his Honda Accord, nor did he know the tag number of the other vehicle. He said he was waiting for a green light to let him turn left from Exchange Street onto Ford Avenue when the other vehicle — which was a possibly light-blue Dodge Durango or Lincoln MKX SUV, which the complainant surmised from seeing the taillights — made a wide right turn from Ford onto Exchange and struck the side of the Accord. The complainant said the other vehicle did not stop on its way into Richmond Place.
Damage to the Accord included denting and scratching from the front driver-side door to the rear fender over the tire.
Another officer canvassed the neighborhood for information, but the suspect’s vehicle was not located.
Jan. 20
Lost/found property — While an officer was patrolling Ball Park Road, he was approached by a complainant who said he found a handgun near a day-care center.
The complainant said that he was working Jan. 11 near PALS Day Care Center on Harris Trail Road when he came across a Taurus .38 Special on the ground. He said he was just then turning the gun over to police because he went on a cruise the day after the discovery.
The officer took the gun and four rounds of duty ammunition from the complainant and had dispatch run the weapon for identification. The report came back as “no record found.” There also was no record of the weapon on file.
The weapon and ammunition were taken to the police department’s evidence locker.
Criminal trespass — Officers went to Ashton Apartments for a report of a male there who had been banned from the property.
Management said it had observed the male subject enter an apartment. The male was in the RHPD system as having been previously arrested for criminal trespass there and was not allowed on the property.
The officer went to the apartment, where a female answered the door and said she lived there but the suspect was not inside. She verbally consented to let the officers come in and look around.
The suspect was found under a bed in a bedroom. Upon command, he crawled out from under the bed and was arrested and taken to RHPD.
Jan. 21
Driving under the influence — An officer pulled over a red Nissan Exterra that was clocked as going 100 mph on Highway 405 southbound.
The driver produced a Florida driver’s license. The officer and driver were having a clear, two-way conversation in English at the time, but the driver’s eyes appeared bloodshot and his speech seemed slurred, and an odor of alcohol was coming from the vehicle’s passenger area. The driver also was wearing tattered clothes and was barefoot.
When the driver’s license was checked, it was listed as not valid because of two failure-to-appear violations.
The officer asked the driver to get out of the car after he put on his shoes. When the driver got out, he appeared unsteady and had an odor of alcohol on him. The officer explained to him that his license was invalid and asked if he had consumed any alcohol that evening. However, the driver then was unable to speak English — while still commonly using them for his advantage, according to the report — and said he didn’t understand it when the officer asked him to perform field sobriety tests. When asked by the officer to submit to a breath test, the driver backed away from the breath-test device and continued to say he didn’t understand English. The driver was arrested at that time for driving under the influence of alcohol.
A search of the vehicle produced an open can of Bud Light Clamato in a paper bag on the front passenger seat.
The driver was transported to Bryan County Jail without incident.