From Hinesville Police Department reports:
Speeding/DUI: A man was arrested for speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol after an officer clocked the man speeding and pulled the driver over. The officer said he could smell alcohol on the man’s breath and that the man was lethargic in his movements and slow in retrieving his license and registration.
The man consented to a field sobriety test which he promptly failed. The officer had the car towed and the man was arrested. The officer administered a blood alcohol breath test. The test showed he had .258 blood alcohol content.
Damage to property: A man got a little more than he bargained for on the Fourth of July when the bed of his pickup truck caught fire. The man reported that his neighbors were setting off fireworks. The man accused his neighbor of igniting fireworks in the bed of his truck which caused the fire. He said his brother saw the bed of his truck on fire and used a pot of water to extinguish the flames. The neighbor denied igniting a firework on the truck. He said he was watching fireworks and also assisted the man’s brother put out the fire when they noticed it.
Shoplifting : It appears that two men went on a shoplifting spree hitting Lowe’s and Kroger in Hinesville. An off-duty officer was flagged down by a Kroger employee who said a man had run out of the store with a cart of groceries without paying for the items. The off-duty officer called dispatch to report the incident after writing down the tag and offering a description of the vehicle. The off-duty officer said he saw as the man ran through the parking lot toward a Red Nissan. The suspect threw the stolen items into the car and jumped into the passenger seat. The driver then took off. A responding officer saw the vehicle and turned on his lights and sirens to make the stop. The fleeing suspects started to weave in and out of traffic to escape. The officer stopped his pursuit and called in the suspects’ car last known location. The officer went back to Kroger and spoke with the employees who said they took beer, crab legs, charcoal and other items. After meeting with the employee, the officer was notified that the suspects’ vehicle was in an accident after being pursued by another officer. The man that was seen running out the store, fled the car from the passenger door and ran toward the woods. The drive was arrested.
As police searched the car they found the stolen items from Kroger that was valued at $387. Police also found several items believed to have been stolen from Lowe’s Home Improvement Store.
Found Contraband: Someone was pretty bummed this Fourth of July after having lost their stash of pot. A man found a bag of marijuana in a parking lot off West Oglethorpe Highway and called the cops. The bag was placed into a drug locker, “for safe keeping.”
Criminal trespass: A woman refused to leave the Motel 6 in Hinesville so the manager called police. A Motel employee reported that she was picking up empty bottles of Fireball when she saw an unknown Motel guest drop another bottle on the ground. After a verbal argument the woman dropping the bottle of Fireball was asked to leave the property. When officers arrived they asked the woman to leave. She said should wasn’t leaving until she was hydrated. The woman said she was in medical distress due to being dehydrated and Liberty EMS was called to the scene to evaluate the woman. The woman was taken to Liberty Regional Medical Center. Later that same night the same woman refused to leave the ER. Hospital staff reported they found no medical condition to admit the woman and they asked her to leave. She refused saying she would not leave until police arrived. Police approached the woman and told her she needed to grab her belongings and leave the property. The woman claimed she wasn’t going to leave because she couldn’t carry her belongings. Police told her to either carry her belongings and leave or get rid of her belongings and leave or be arrested for trespassing. The woman pulled out her cell phone telling officers she needed to call her doctor in Tennessee who would verify her medical concerns. Officers told her to put the phone down but she refused to follow orders. The officer stated to place handcuffs on the woman and needed the assistance of a second officer to do so. He and the second officer attempted to escort the woman out of the building but she kept refusing to walk and kept sitting on the floor. The officers carried the woman to the patrol car.