GBI called to investigate arrest of teen
Savannah-Chatham Police called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation following the arrest of a Savannah teenager injured after fighting with officers during an arrest.
"Undercover officers assigned to the SCMPD's Undercover Narcotics Investigation Team, or UNIT, were working East Savannah streets to disrupt and arrest shooting offenders and street drug dealers when they observed a suspicious black Nissan Altima," a police spokesman says.
At approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday June 13 they observed the vehicle "driving recklessly in the state streets area. The officers, wearing outer vests imprinted with "POLICE" on them, attempted to stop a male exiting the vehicle. The male ran from officers," the spokesman says.
That male has been identified as a 16-year-old who listed a Port Wentworth address.
Another undercover officer wearing an outer vest with "POLICE" imprinted on it also responded. "That officer chased the fleeing individual and tackled him to the ground. A fight ensued and the individual refused to comply with officers' commands. The individual continued to fight," police say.
"It was only after the arrival of a K-9 team that the individual stopped fighting with officers and complied," police say. The K-9 did not bite the individual, police say.
Officers found 10 small bags of marijuana on the teenager. He was then placed in the back of a patrol car. "The individual told officers he was tired and had asthma and officers called for EMS," police say. "
Chief Joseph H. Lumpkin, Sr. requested the GBI to investigate the arrest incident.
"It will always be the intention of my department to keep the public informed of all the facts of cases to the point that we can," he said. "But I have asked the GBI to investigate and we cannot release information that may hinder their... investigation."
The male was under police watch at the hospital before being transferred to the Chatham County Detention Center. The officers involved in the response have been placed on restrictive duty status.
Members of the UNIT were in plainclothes and not outfitted with body cameras. Chief Lumpkin has ordered that any overtime officer in support of the UNIT wear body cameras and be equipped with Tasers.
Shooter at large after incident in drug house
The Monday afternoon shooting of a man in an apartment containing a quantity of drugs and items used in their distribution has detectives looking for witnesses. Officers found Marcus Decarl Echols, 21, with a gunshot wound in his apartment on the 10000 block of Abercorn Street about 5:20 p.m.
Suspects sought after home invasion
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police seek the identities of the suspects who shot a man during a robbery attempt.
The incident happened just before midnight on Thursday June 11, at a residence on the 2000 block of Lewden Street. Enrico Hughes, 39, was shot "when three males entered the residence demanding cash and armed with a gun," police say.
Investigators are looking for three suspects and two vehicles linked to this crime. The first suspect is a black male in his late 20s to early 30s, with short brown hair, medium brown skin and a thin mustache. He stands 5-6 to 5-7 and weighs 145 to 150 pounds. "He may be driving a tan, older model, small to mid-size SUV," police say.
The second suspect is a slender black male with a dark complexion and low haircut, standing 5-8 to 5-9. The third suspect is a black male with medium brown skin, standing 5-6 to 5-9.
Woman charged with murder
Detectives added murder charges against 68-year-old Vivian Corely after the death Wednesday afternoon of a woman shot on the Southside June 4.
Lorraine Manuel, 27, of the 7200 block of Grant Street, died in Memorial University Medical Center. She had been in critical condition since the shooting on Culverton Court.
Corely called Emergency 911 at 3:40 p.m. to report that she had shot someone in the rental house she owns off Beaumont Drive in southwest Chatham County. cs