A drunken brawl. A missing car. An open bar tab and forgotten debit card. A multi-agency investigation. This is quite a story.
According to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department, officers responded to the VFW in response to a fight just after 11 p.m. on July 12, 2024. When the first officer arrived, he made contact with the victim who said there had been a fight. While the report doesn’t mention everyone involved in the fight; it does identify one of the alleged participants — Dustin McClellan, 37, of Douglas. The report simply states that “an altercation started which resulted in McClellan taking [the victim’s] vehicle.” The victim’s vehicle was a Jeep Grand Cherokee which was running in the parking lot at the time. The victim said that he did not give McClellan permission to take the Grand Cherokee.
While the officer was at the VFW, he learned that McClellan had left an open bar tab and his debit card, the report says. An employee closed out the bar tab then gave the officer the debit card.
The victim knew the general area in which McClellan lived, which was out Highway 158 West. A deputy and a trooper from the Georgia State Patrol headed in that direction. Another police officer radioed in and said that she had seen the Jeep traveling west on Highway 158 at a high rate of speed.
The DPD officer who initially responded also went that way in an effort to find McClellan. The officers found McClellan at his home, along with the Grand Cherokee. The report says that McClellan was “visibly intoxicated and laughing.” According to the report, McClellan maintained that he had been at home all night asleep. However, McClellan had an armband on from the VFW plus the first officer had the debit card he had left there.
McClellan was arrested and charged with DUI (refusal) and theft by taking – motor vehicle. He was transported to the Coffee County Jail and later released.