Lawmen nabbed 17 in weekend roadblocks

Law enforcement officers arrested 17 people, including three fugitives, during two planned road checks Friday night in Grady County.

Coordinated by the Southwest Traffic Enforcement Network of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the big event involved 44 officers from 11 different law enforcement agencies, according to Bruce Lowe, investigator with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office and coordinator of the SWGA Traffic Enforcement Network.

The first road check took place on both the north and southbound lanes of U.S. 319 near the state line, from 8 p.m. until about midnight. The officers moved the road check to the intersection of GA111S and Pine Park Road around 1 a.m. and stayed there until about 3 a.m.

During the nearly seven hours of checking motorists, officers made 17 arrests. Two of the fugitives caught in the event were wanted in Florida, and the third was wanted in Georgia. Lowe says the 17 suspects were arrested on charges of driving with suspended licenses, driving while unlicensed, DUI, or minor drug offenses.

Lowe says when selecting a location for road checks, the first priority is officer safety. The network tries to have at least one road check per month in the 13 counties that make up the Southwest Traffic Enforcement Network.

Before each road check, participating officers have a meeting and also undergo some training, Lowe says.

Agencies that participated here Friday night were the host agency, Grady County Sheriff’s Office, Cairo Police Department, Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, Donalsonville Police Department, Leesburg Police Department, Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, Poulan Police Department, Warwick Police Department, Worth County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, and Motor Carrier Compliance Division.