A man faces several charges after Coweta County officials said he was involved in two drunken driving crashes on the same night and then spit on deputies who were trying to book him into the jail.
Frederick Anthony Turner, 38, is accused of abandoning his Ford Ranger after a rollover crash, according to the Coweta sheriff’s office. A second alleged drunken driver, 22-year-old Jesse Caroline Walker, was charged in the case after authorities said she picked up Turner and then crashed her truck into a ditch.
A deputy was sent to Glover Pond Road about 8 p.m. Saturday after hearing reports that a pickup truck had overturned and was blocking the street, a sheriff’s office incident report said.
Several opened cans of Michelob Ultra beer were found in the truck, the report said. Turner was not in the vehicle, but investigators said they found his license inside. Later, a driver reported a man walking north of the crash site who might have been involved in the wreck, the report said.
A deputy went to find the man and encountered another wreck, this time involving a Dodge Ram. Turner was sitting in the passenger seat and Walker was in the driver’s seat, the report said.
Deputies told Turner and Walker to get out. Turner was unsteady on his feet and fell face-first into the gravel while trying to leave the vehicle, the report said. Both were detained.
Deputies found an open beer can that was still cold inside the Ram, the incident report said. They also found an open bottle of vodka and a cooler filled with Michelob Ultra, the same kind of beer that was discovered at the first crash scene.
When authorities tried to ask Turner about the wreck involving his truck, he became belligerent, according to the report. They noted that both Walker and Turner smelled strongly of alcohol, the report said.
Walker admitted to drinking, according to the report. After a series of sobriety tests, she was placed under arrest.
Turner’s speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot, authorities said. When a deputy tried to read Turner his consent rights for a blood test, the man replied with profanities, the incident report said. He was taken to Newnan Piedmont Hospital for a medical clearance to admit him into the jail.
When Turner arrived at the hospital, he began yelling and shouting profanities, the incident report said.
“(Turner) then kept trying to turn around and get in deputies’ faces,” the incident report said. Turner had to be “pushed up against the hospital counter and bent over it to prevent (him) from spitting or fighting deputies.”
Walker and Turner were booked into the Coweta County Jail.
At the facility, Turner spit at a deputy while he was being walked through the booking door, the incident report said.
Turner is charged with DUI, driving too fast for conditions, acquiring a license plate to conceal identity, operating a vehicle without registration, leaving the scene of an accident, open container, simple battery on a law enforcement officer, obstruction and disorderly conduct.
Walker is charged with DUI, failure to maintain lane and open container.
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