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Man threatens his childrens mother with a firearm
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Deputies from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office were called to a burglary on Sept. 22 and learned en route there was a pistol involved, according to reports.

When the deputies arrived at the home on Bermuda Court they reportedly found a black male, later identified as Joel Godwin Baker, walking away from the front door of the home. Baker was ordered to get on the ground and, according to reports, he complied. He was searched for a weapon but none was found at that point, according to reports.

Baker was placed into a patrol car while deputies continued with their investigation. They reportedly made contact with a women, who allegedly told them Baker – who is the father of her five children – came into her home with a gun and told her he would kill her. The woman told deputies she and Baker broke up roughly six months prior, though they had lived together before then.

While speaking with the woman, the deputy noticed a pistol laying on the ground under a bush by the front porch. When the deputy picked the gun up, he noticed two rounds in the chamber, according to reports. There was also reportedly a black box found next to the pistol with nine .38 special rounds in it. It was found the gun had been reported stolen out of Atlanta.

Baker allegedly refused to speak with deputies and was transported to the Newton County Detention Center where he was charged with aggravated assault, criminal trespass and firearm possession by a convicted felon.

 

Drugs in unusual places

Covington-Newton County Special Investigations Agents discovered that a Newton County man charged for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute was storing his drugs in ironic places, according to SIU head Lt. Philip Bradford.

SIU investigators had been watching Adrian Clark, 19, of Covington for several months after receiving numerous complaints about his alleged drug selling activities, said Bradford, but were unable to find an informant during that time.

"We lucked out the other night because he left the house, so we were able to stop the main target," Bradford said.

When Newton County Sheriff’s Office deputy Justin Hipps pulled Clark over in a traffic stop around 9 a.m. on Oct. 1, the deputy reportedly found a little over an ounce of marijuana and digital scales during a consensual search of the vehicle. The drugs and scales were reportedly stored in a D.A.R.E. bag, commonly handed out by the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program run jointly by the Covington police and NCSO.

Clark reportedly told investigators he had more drugs stored at his house, and his mother, who came out to the scene, gave agents permission to search the house, said Bradford.

While agents were waiting in the front yard for the mother, who was the homeowner, to arrive, they reportedly heard and saw people scrambling around inside the house, then running out the back door.

When they were able to search the home, they reportedly found only a small plastic baggie of marijuana, despite information from Clark that there would be seven or eight bags.

Outside the house, investigators found five or six packages of drugs wrapped in a shirt that had a picture of the Bible and a verse printed on it, hidden in a grill at an adjacent vacant house.

Bradford said the additional drugs found did not change Clark’s charge of possession with intent to distribute, and that agents wanted to take the drugs off the streets.

 

Swing time

On the morning of Sept. 27, officers from the Covington Police Department were patrolling the area of Sunny and Allen Drive when they received a call for a burglary in progress.

Officers were given a description of the man and were able to locate the man who was, at the time, reportedly standing on the rear porch of a home on Allen Drive attempting to remove a porch swing.

When officers made contact with the man and asked him for his name, he reportedly told them his name was Dennis Goolsby and reportedly admitted he was not the current owner or a resident of the home. It was later found that the man’s name was actually Richard Goolsby.

When asked why he was trying to remove the porch swing from the home, Goolsby reportedly told officers he believed the home was vacant and therefore, could take what he wanted from the residence.

Goolsby was placed under arrest and charged with theft by taking, criminal trespass and giving false name/information to a police officer.