A drunken spree in two counties Saturday landed a Grovetown man in jail over the weekend, but this wasn’t his first brush with the law.
James Fredrick Smith of 330 Whiskey Rd., Grovetown, caused significant damage to Goodale Park before driving to Richmond County where he wrecked his car near the intersection of Tobacco and Windsor Spring roads, according to official reports.
Goodale Park received extensive damage to the fencing surrounding the dog park. The pavilion area and dog park are currently closed to the public until further notice while the tennis courts and basketball courts remain open, according to a news release from the city of Grovetown.
After striking a stationary object, Smith abandoned his heavily damaged vehicle in the middle of the street, and a bystander assisted him into the Walmart parking lot on Windsor Spring Road, where Richmond County deputies cited him for driving under the influence, according to a Richmond County sheriff’s report.
Deputies detained Smith at the parking lot. Their report indicates that Smith was being belligerent. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation and later released only to be arrested by Grovetown Police Department the next day.
Saturday was not the first time Smith had been called belligerent by Richmond County deputies.
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On Oct. 19, Richmond County deputies arrested Smith for a bizarre encounter that started with him being pulled over for not wearing a seat belt.
What should have been a routine traffic stop ended with Smith and his female passenger Michelle Garcia, both being arrested.
Garcia, a convicted felon previously arrested on a drug charge, was not authorized to possess a firearm; however, Garcia was openly carrying a pistol on her side at the time of the traffic stop, according to a report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department.
During that stop, Smith exited the vehicle and confronted the deputies despite being instructed to return to his vehicle. He continued to be belligerent towards the deputies which resulted in his arrest.
Smith was released on a $5,700 bond.
That, along with several domestic incidents involving Smith, occurred less than two miles from where Smith abandoned his vehicle Nov. 20.
Also, Smith was ticketed by the Georgia State Patrol on April 10, 2021, for driving a Ford Mustang 102-mph on Bobby Jones Expressway in an area that was posted as a 65-mph zone.
Several other incident reports indicate that Smith had domestic issues with his fiancée earlier in 2021. Smith’s fiancée even reported him as a missing person in August of 2020.
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