GA DUI News

A judge in Clarke County State Court found Christina Lori Parks in violation of the terms of her probation relating to a Georgia DUI conviction, and ordered her to be held in the county jail. Around 5:00 pm, as Parks waited for van to transport her to the jail, she managed to slip out of her handcuffs and the restraint chair to which she had been chained. At one point she reportedly approached a man who let her use his cell phone. Her face was bruised and she told the man she was trying to get away from her boyfriend. She then convinced the man to give her a ride to a house thought to be inhabited by a former boyfriend.

Police initially checked the bar where Parks' boyfriend worked. They then surrounded the ex-boyfriend's house and waited until they saw Parks' look out a window. Around 7:00 pm, they entered the house and arrested Parks on charges of escape, violating parole and obstruction of a police officer.

Last July Parks was placed on two years probation after being found guilty of driving under the influence in Athens-Clarke County Georgia. She was also ordered to enroll in a drug court program, complete community service, participate in a victim impact panel and attend GA DUI school. She has been found in violation of her parole several times over the past 6 months. Then on January 11 she was found in violation again after drinking and committing simple battery, leading a judge two days later to sentence Parks to jail during a status hearing.

The county sheriff's department has said it will review its procedures for securing arrestees.

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The first round draft pick of the Houston Astros was arrested early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence by Athens-Clarke County, Georgia police. Delino DeShields, Jr., 18, was charged with three misdemeanor offenses: GA DUI, underage possession of alcohol and driving the wrong way on a one way street. He was booked into jail and released two hours later after posting $2500 bail.

The Astros organization has said it is a police matter and they will address the issue when appropriate. DeShields was the eighth player selected during the 2010 major league baseball draft. He received a $2.15 million signing bonus. DeShields was an outfielder for his high school in south suburban Atlanta, though the Astros project using his speed and glove skills at second base.

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A Moultrie man was arrested for operating a motorized wheelchair while intoxicated on October 29. Around 9:30 pm, police were alerted to a man panhandling at a gas station. When they arrived at the station, the officers were told the man had wheeled away. After a brief search, the officers located David Howard Popper in a wheelchair without lights. Under Georgia law a personal mobility vehicle is required to have such a light when operated 30 minutes after sunset. As the police were interviewing Popper they detected alcohol on his breath. When Popper, 49, confirmed that he had consumed two beers, the officers arrested him for GA DUI and transported him for booking at the Colquitt County Jail.

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Police in Dougherty County Georgia report an accident involving an intoxicated woman operating a golf cart. Catherine Chandler was driving her cart around 9:00 pm without headlights during an outdoor Halloween party when she hit Chrystal Potter. Potter suffered serious injuries to her legs and was taken to an Albany hospital.

Chandler, 40, was arrested for driving under the influence in Georgia, serious injury by vehicle and reckless driving.

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According to Athens-Clarke County Georgia jail records, arrests of students from the University of Georgia are up significantly this year. This revelation comes just two weeks after the school was named the No. 1 party college campus by the Princeton Review.

On Thursday, August 19, campus police and Athens-Clarke County police arrested twenty students on charges including underage possession of alcohol, drug possession and Georgia DUI. The two law enforcement groups planned to conduct sobriety and safety checkpoints the following night. The total number of arrests over a two weeks period stands at 43. In 2009, there were 15 arrests made during the same time frame; and 13 arrests in 2008.

Classes at the University of Georgia began the week of August 16, and the student enrollment is approximately 33,000.

Athens-Clarke County DUI defense attorney Richard Lawson says that impaired driving is never condoned, and information on the dangers of drinking and driving should be extended to incoming students.

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Georgia State Patrol troopers report an accident that led to the arrest of a Cobb County police captain Saturday morning for drunken driving. Cuauctemoc Rosas was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of a highway in Douglas County around 2:00 am when he struck Cpt. David Gallmon. The responding GSP officer detected alcohol on Gallmon's breath and suspected he was driving under the influence in Georgia. Gallmon refused to submit to a breath test, and he was taken to the Douglas County Jail and booked for GA DUI. Gallmon posted a $1000 bond and was released.

Gallmon, 48, is the head of the Cobb County Police Department's Precinct 2 in the southwest area of the county. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The other motorist, Rosas was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in central Atlanta. The GSP says he will be facing charges.

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Wednesday morning a Georgetown woman was arrested for driving under the influence in Georgia as she slipped in and out of consciousness after dropping her son off at summer school. About a half mile from the school, Barbara Thornton nearly struck another vehicle and a pole while pulling into a gas station parking lot. She then passed out in her car.

A Quitman County Sheriff's deputy was able to shake Thornton awake but she was incoherent. She was unable to maintain her balance to perform field sobriety tests and she kept closing her eyes and falling asleep. Thornton said that she had taken medication before the incident. Because she refused to provide a blood or urine sample to test for drugs or alcohol, her driver's license was suspended. She was booked at the Miller County Jail on charges of DUI in Georgia.

Thornton, 34, had been arrested for possession of cocaine last March and sentenced to probation.

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Richmond County Sheriff's deputies saw that an Augusta man forced his nine-year old daughter to drink beer. The child told officers that her dad threatened to kill her if she didn't drink. The child was staying with her father and she contacted her mother, crying and begging to be picked up. The father, Jeffery Deon Hickson, was upset about the phone call and left the house with the girl. When the mother arrived and found no one at the house, she contacted the police. Hickson returned shortly after with the nine-year old and a 5-year child from another relationship.

Sheriff's deputies investigating the incident found Hickson, 39, to be drunk and charged him with child cruelty, child endangerment, driving under the influence in Georgia, possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license and failure to have insurance.

The 9-year old girl was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Her blood alcohol content registered .165%.

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper has printed an article stating that Roswell police on the night shift have been ordered to make a minimum number of GA DUI arrests or face transfer. The paper obtained a memo showing that officers were to meet a goal of 25 arrests for driving under the influence in Georgia each year. Failure to do so would mean reassignment from the overnight shift. The memo also noted that one officer was transferred less than two weeks after failing to meet the quota.

DUI patrol officers receive overtime pay and realize advancement in the department sooner, meaning there is financial incentive and personal motivation to be a part of the shift rotation.

The Roswell Police Department said the Georgia DUI goal was one of several benchmarks used to evaluate officer productivity. The quota however raises the question of falsifying information to justify an arrest. DUI arrests can be initiated based solely on an officer's assumption of impairment, and not evidence from a breath or blood test.

Arrests for GA DUI in the northern Fulton County/Atlanta area have risen sharply during 2010.

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