Photo Credit: Lee Gatlin
After UGA home football games, Flagpole reporter and photographer Joshua L. Jones will be checking the police blotter to find the weekend’s strangest drunken antics. All information is taken from Athens-Clarke County police reports.
• At 12:36 a.m. Sunday, an officer observed a man on the East Clayton Street sidewalk remove a jar of moonshine from his pocket. As the man was drinking from the jar, the officer asked for his information. The man gave the officer a fake New Jersey license. The 20-year-old Suwanee man was arrested and charged with possession of a fake ID, underage consumption and open container.
• An officer was investigating a battery in the area of Farmer’s Exchange apartments Sunday around 2 a.m. when the officer was approached by a man asking “where the real tailgate was.” The officer responded “everywhere,” and could tell the man was under some type of intoxicant that was not alcohol.
After the encounter, the man went back to his vehicle, where the officer could see another person inside. The officer believed the man was trying to distract him from a crime that was about to occur or was already occurring.
The officer patrolled the parking lot looking for broken car windows and any evidence of crime, and noticed the man’s vehicle was from out of town because of all the Alabama flags on the vehicle. The two men in the car appeared to be just hanging out with no intent of visiting someone at the complex.
The officer went to the driver’s window and spoke to the man, who again asked “where the real tailgate was.” The officer could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer asked to search the vehicle and the man, now in handcuffs, said “yeah.” A search of the vehicle revealed a blunt, a jar of marijuana, and a bottle of MDMA pills.
The 36-year-old Ellenwood man then told the officer that his brother 35, of Norcross, had nothing to do with the drugs in the car and claimed them.
• At 11:45 a.m. Friday, an officer working at 100 Proof observed a man jump over the railing without showing his ID or paying the cover. The man then noticed the officer saw him do this and jumped back over the railing and headed towards Jackson Street.
The officer, along with another officer, followed the man and cut him off in front of The Hedges. The officers asked for his ID, and the man provided a Mississippi ID and tried to run. One of the officers grabbed him and fell into a tree, then onto the ground. The other officer grabbed the man’s right arm and pulled it behind him to place handcuffs on the man. Other officers had to force the man’s other hand behind him so he could be placed in handcuffs.
Officers found the man’s Georgia ID, which showed he was only 20 years old, and a half-empty bottle of vodka on him. The Athens resident was charged with possession of a fake ID, underage consumption and obstruction.
• An officer was riding on bicycle patrol at 2:25 a.m. Sunday on East Broad Street when he noticed two men arguing. Seconds later, the men began fighting, striking each other with closed fists in front of Starbucks. The men were separated,but continued to argue, and then started striking each other again. Officers detained both men,
When asked, the men said they were having a verbal altercation over the Georgia–Alabama football game and eventually began to fight. Both admitted to drinking during the night. Both men, a 22-year-old from Suwanee and a 23-year-old from Milton, were charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
• At 12:45 a.m. Friday, an officer working at Silver Dollar Bar was notified by the staff that a man had climbed over the railing trying get into the bar.
The staff wanted the man escorted off the premises. The officer spoke with the man, who was belligerent and cussing, telling the officer that this was “fucked up,” and referred to the bar staff as “motherfuckers,” according to the police report.
The officer could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from the man, who had glassy eyes, was unsteady on his feet and swayed from side to side. The 21-year-old from Tuscaloosa, AL was charged with public intoxication.
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