August 18, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
A semi truck driver arrested last week for DUI bailed out of a patrol car and jumped in the lake trying to escape.
35 year old Christopher Paul Ashlock of Muscle Shoals, Alabama is charged with driving under the influence, escape, and resisting stop , frisk, halt, or arrest. His bond is $8,500 and he will be in court September 3.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Thursday, August 13 a deputy received a call of a possible drunk driver on Highway 70 east and went to investigate. He spotted a white tractor trailer truck traveling toward Sparta and watched as it crossed over the white line of the road onto the right shoulder almost hitting road signs and mail boxes before going back across the center line. The officer then pulled over the truck and spoke with the driver, Ashlock whose eyes were bloodshot and watery. The deputy also detected a strong odor of alcohol and marijuana coming from inside the truck. Ashlock submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. He was placed under arrest, handcuffed, and seated in the rear of the patrol car. With his wrists handcuffed behind him, Ashlock managed to open the car door and flee on foot before jumping in Center Hill Lake near Sligo Marina trying to swim away. Officers secured a boat and caught up with Ashlock. Although he continued to resist, Ashlock was apprehended and brought to the jail for booking.
39 year old Geri Lynn Brown is charged with burglary, auto burglary, aggravated burglary, and two counts of theft. Her bond is $30,000 and she will be in court August 27.
Sheriff Ray said that on August 1 Brown broke into and stole items from a residence and garage on Chapman Hollow Road taking two shotguns, two handguns, a leather western gun belt, several power tools, and other miscellaneous items. The value of the stolen items comes to $3,790. Brown also broke into an stole a 1993 Toyota Corolla valued at $2,500.
27 year old Dalton Grady Moore of Poss Road, Smithville is charged with public intoxication. Sheriff Ray said that on August 14 a deputy received a call about a man in the area of Four Seasons Marina who was possibly under the influence. Upon arrival the officer found Moore who appeared to be in a hyperactive state and an altered mental status. Moore said he had smoked some marijuana about two hours earlier. He was placed under arrest.
54 year old Franklin Dewayne Nicholas of McMinnville is charged with possession of a schedule VI controlled substance (marijuana) for sale or delivery and possession of methamphetamine to manufacture, sell or deliver. His bond is $24,500 and he will be in court September 3.
Sheriff Ray said that on August 13 the Warren County Sheriff’s Department Drug Unit contacted a DeKalb County deputy to be on the lookout for a silver Nissan Altima traveling on Sparta Highway with illegal narcotics. The officer spotted the car in a parking lot on Sparta Highway and stopped to investigate. The deputy spoke with the driver, Nicholas and obtained consent to search the car. The search turned up 40 plastic baggies, seven grams of a clear crystal like substance thought to be methamphetamine, and eight grams of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana. The officer also seized the car and $190 in cash.