By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
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An Atmore woman who used her baby as a shield while she fought with Atmore police officers who were trying to arrest her partner, wound up in jail on four separate charges, including a felony.
According to police reports, the incident began around 7:15 p.m. on June 13, when an officer on routine patrol on Jack Springs Road “observed a male and female arguing in the road.”
When the officer stopped to investigate, 27-year-old Lagarick Raheem Black ran from the scene. Misdemeanor arrest warrants were obtained for Black on charges of obstructing government operations and attempting to elude a police officer.
Around 11:35 a.m. the next day, an officer on routine patrol in the 300 block of Everette Street observed Black standing in front of an apartment.
The apartment resident, later identified as Sarah Maria Gardner, 22, refused to allow officers into the apartment, forcing an investigator to obtain a search warrant to enter the apartment and arrest Black.
Reports show that as Black was being arrested, Gardner “began shoving and punching” the officer. A second officer tried to assist but was unable to use force to subdue Gardner, who had an infant tucked under her arm and was using the child as a shield.
Gardner eventually handed the infant to someone nearby and began fighting with the officers again. They were able to take her to the ground and take her into custody when they determined the infant was no longer in danger.
Gardner was arrested and charged with second-degree assault (a Class C felony), endangering the welfare of a child, obstructing government operations (both Class A misdemeanors) and resisting arrest, a Class B misdemeanor.
Investigators learned that Black, who was taken into custody on the outstanding misdemeanor warrants, was on probation from several felony cases. They contacted his probation officer, who reportedly revoked his probation.
Both Black and Gardner remained in the Escambia County Detention Center on Friday, June 21.
Courtney Mitchell
Amy Jo Louise Nelson
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An Atmore man and a Florida woman were arrested June 18 after police responded to a request for a “welfare check” of the two, who were staying at an East Nashville motel.
Police reports show that officers were sent to Greenlawn Motel, 1402 East Nashville Avenue, around 11:50 a.m. to conduct a welfare check.
Officers contacted the occupants of the room — Amy Jo Louise Nelson, 47, of Port Orange, Fla. and Courtney Mitchell, 52, of Atmore — and determined that neither was in any danger. However, officers also “noticed narcotics in plain view from the door.”
Recovered from the motel room were “several grams” of a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as several pipes (each with meth residue) and “items used for ingesting narcotics.”
Nelson and Mitchell were each booked into the Escambia County Detention Center on one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Jail records show that both remained behind bars Friday, June 21.
Malcom Benjiman Barge
Brooke Madison Emory
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A man and woman from Georgia were arrested on felony drug charges after a traffic stop led to the discovery of nearly seven ounces of marijuana, liquid codeine and other drug-related material.
According to police reports, the traffic stop was conducted around 9:15 p.m. on June 17, when an officer on routine patrol along Alabama 21, near Interstate 65, saw a vehicle “exit the interstate at a high rate of speed, nearly running the stop sign.”
During their interaction with the occupants — 28-year-old Malcom Benjiman Barge and 22-year-old Brooke Madison Emory, both from Centerville, Ga. — police “detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.”
A probable-cause search of the vehicle led to the discovery of several loose Oxycodone pills, several THC Vape pens, more than 200 grams of marijuana, liquid codeine in a baby bottle, and unspecified items used for ingesting narcotics.
Barge and Emory were charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance, first-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
They were each released on bond shortly after their arrest.
Kenneth Wayne Rolin
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An Atmore man was arrested June 14 after an APD officer, on routine patrol on Martin Luther King Avenue around 11:25 p.m., spotted his vehicle — which had no tag — stopped in the middle of an intersection, obstructing the flow of traffic.
During the officer’s interaction with the driver, Kenneth Rolin, 68, the policeman “became suspicious of Rolin’s behavior and gained consent to search the vehicle.” The search yielded an undisclosed quantity of a substance that field-tested positive for crack cocaine, along with various items used for ingesting narcotics.
Rolin was arrested and charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released June 17 on bond.
Quentin Devon Williams
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An Atmore man, already the subject of outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrants, drew a felony drug possession charge when an officer recognized him and pulled his vehicle over.
Reports show the traffic stop happened around 7:50 a.m. on June 12, when an APD officer on routine patrol spotted Quentin Devon Williams driving along Medical Park Drive.
Williams was taken into custody on the warrants but wound up with a more serious charge when “a white, crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for crack cocaine and items used for ingesting narcotics” were found.
Williams, who is charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, was released June 17 on bond.
Theotis Henry Jones
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An Atmore man was arrested June 18 by Atmore police after his vehicle was pulled over for an unspecified “equipment violation.”
According to police reports, the traffic stop occurred around 10:05 a.m. on East Church Street when an officer on routine patrol spotted the vehicle that was in violation.
As the policeman talked with the driver, 39-year-old Theotis Henry Jones of Atmore, he “noticed a baggy of a green, leafy substance which later field-tested positive for marijuana.”
A subsequent search of the vehicle led to discovery of “a white rocky substance that field-tested positive for crack cocaine, along with “items … that are typically used to ingest narcotics.”
Jones was jailed on one count each of possession of a controlled substance, second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on bond June 20.