Two McDuffie County residents were arrested June 29 in Columbia County after a short manhunt in Harlem.
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McDuffie Maj. Ronnie Williamson searches the vehicle.
Photo by Jim Wallace
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Jennifer H. Weatherford, 24, of Augusta Highway, and Roy Axon Jr., 24 of Adams Chapel Road were taken into custody on separate charges.
The incident began around 2:20 p.m. when Harlem Department of Public Safety Field Training Officer Chris Brune stopped behind a green Ford Explorer in a stall at Coulson Car Wash on East Milledgeville Road. Police had been looking for the Explorer and Mr. Axon, who was wanted for probation warrants by McDuffie County authorities, Officer Brune said.
Officer Brune said he asked a man washing the tires for identification and the man, later identified as Mr. Axon, said he had none. Mr. Axon told the officer his name was Ronald Thomas Coleman -- a name Ms. Weatherford verified.
Officer Brune reached for his cuffs and Mr. Axon bolted from the area. A Columbia County K-9 unit, McDuffie County deputies and Georgia State Patrol helicopter were called to the scene to help search for Mr. Axon.
At 4:25 p.m., an off-duty Richmond County officer in an unmarked vehicle stopped and talked with Mr. Axon at the intersection of Radford Gay Road and Adams Chapel Road. The distraction worked long enough for McDuffie County deputies to arrive and arrest Mr. Axon. He was charged with obstructing/hindering law enforcement and giving a false name and date of birth.
McDuffie County Sheriff's Department Maj. Ronnie Williamson found two baggies containing clear rocks -- which later field-tested positive as crystal methamphetamine -- in Ms. Weatherford's purse.
Ms. Weatherford was charged with possession, obstruction/hindering law enforcement for lying about Mr. Axon's name, according to Officer Brune.
