Hall County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Gainesville man on drug charges, including trafficking, following a traffic stop on Athens Highway near Gaines Mill Road over the weekend.
HALL CO. SHERIFF’S OFFICE (HCSO) NARRATIVE:
Just before 6:45 p.m. Saturday, deputies observed the driver of a Ford Ranger pickup truck traveling in the gore of the roadway and initiated a traffic stop.
When deputies activated the lights on the patrol vehicle, they observed a man, later identified as Donald Gene McGinnis, 30, riding in the bed of the truck. They saw McGinnis throw something from the truck.
Deputies questioned McGinnis and determined he had tossed a glass smoking pipe from the vehicle when he saw the blue lights of the patrol vehicle. McGinnis was arrested at that point on misdemeanor charges of littering and tampering with evidence. The woman driving the pickup truck received a written warning for driving within the gore, and she was released from the scene.
As deputies transported McGinnis to the Hall County Jail, they observed him making odd movements in the back of the patrol vehicle. Once they arrived at the jail, deputies conducted a second search of McGinnis and found a small amount of methamphetamine in the back seat of the patrol vehicle and a small amount of meth in his hand. During a more in-depth search, deputies located a bag of meth (30.34 grams) inside McGinnis’s underwear. Street value of the illegal narcotics was estimated at just over $3,000.
McGinnis was then charged with crossing guard lines with a controlled substance and methamphetamine trafficking, both felony offenses. He remains in jail with no bond.
(HCSO)