A 50-year-old Douglas man remains in jail a week and a half after he allegedly fled a police officer during an attempted arrest.
According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, on June 3, an officer noticed Alton Lee Smith standing at the entrance of Harvey’s on Peterson Avenue. It was just after 5 a.m., well before the store opened, and that caught the officer’s attention.
The officer spoke with Smith who, the report says, became nervous. He tried to walk away and the officer kept asking him to stop. Smith eventually told the officer that his name was Tyrone McRae and he was born in November of 1976. The officer, however, knew that was incorrect. She had dealt with him previously and knew who he was. During the previous run-in, Smith had also allegedly given her a false name.
The officer also noticed that Smith had something inside his right sock. Smith stated that it was marijuana. The officer took the package that contained the suspected marijuana and placed it on her car. She then returned to her patrol car to get gloves to check out what was in the package (which was really just some balled up napkins). When she got to her car, Smith grabbed the napkins and took off running. The report says he ran through the parking lot, crossed Peterson Avenue, and headed toward the Save-A-Lot parking lot where he ran through a white fence, damaging it in the process.
Other officers responded and quickly had Smith in custody. During the chase, the report says that Smith dropped the napkins. Officers retrieved them and found that they didn’t contain marijuana — they contained five pills and suspected crack cocaine. He also had an active warrant for his arrest from the Douglas Police Department.
Smith was charged with possession of Schedule I and II Controlled Substances, obstruction, giving false name and information to officers, and criminal trespass. The warrant was a bench warrant for theft by shoplifting. Smith was transported to the Coffee County Jail where he remains.