An argument over rent, returning keys, and an allegedly stolen cell phone landed a Douglas woman in jail earlier this month.
According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, a DPD officer responded to a West Walker Street address in reference to a theft call. When the officer arrived, he discovered that a landlord and someone who was renting a room at her house had gotten into an argument over rent. The landlord told the other individual, identified as Valarie Cox, 45, of Douglas, to return the keys and leave the property. If she didn’t, the complainant was going to call 911, the report says.
During the argument, the report says that Cox took the complainant’s cell phone to keep her from calling 911. Cox initially told the complainant that she threw the phone under a bed. The complainant looked for the phone under the bed but couldn’t find it. Also during the argument, the report says that Cox spit in the complainant’s face.
The report says that Cox eventually left the property. As she did, she gave the phone and keys to a neighbor, who returned them to the complainant. The officer went to Cox’s job and spoke to her there. The report says that Cox said she would return the keys when she finished loading her stuff. She admitted to taking the phone but said she had done so by accident.
Cox was arrested and charged with theft by taking and hindering a person from making a 911 call. She was booked into the Coffee County Jail and released.
