An Atlanta man arrived in Putnam County approximately two weeks ago and is now accused of handing a bag of fentanyl to a store clerk, crashing his car through a resident’s driveway gate, running away from K9 deputies, and prowling naked in another resident’s front yard before being arrested clad in a beekeeper’s suit and golf shoes.
“I called (the resident) and asked if he owned a beekeeper’s suit, and he said ‘yes, but it’s missing,’” Sills said.
Noting that it was the same resident who reported the naked man walking around in his yard, Sills said he then sent via text message a picture of the golf shoes to the resident. Turns out the golf shoes were his as well, and he said both the beekeeper suit and the shoes had been in his garage.
“So, he was curious and searched around and said some fried chicken and a couple of beers also were missing from the refrigerator,” Sills added with a chuckle.
Othniel Tyrus Smith, 60, of Oxford Road NE, Atlanta, is in Putnam County Jail on charges of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance – fentanyl, aggravated assault, possession and use of drug-related objects, loitering and prowling, failure to report an accident, criminal trespass, and criminal damage to property – second degree.
Sills said Smith has 16 prior arrests on his record and is currently on felony probation out of Bulloch County. He said Smith also was arrested on Jan. 30 in Emanuel County for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug-related objects, possession of cocaine, and criminal trespass.
“And eight days later, he was arrested in Bleckley County for possession of Schedule II drugs and driving on a suspended license,” Sills said. “He was already on felony probation, gets arrested again, and eight days later again, and then he’s not in jail but is here committing more crimes. Why does this keep happening? All over our state, this keeps happening.”
The incident in Putnam began on the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 19, at Dollar General on Pea Ridge Road. Putnam Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Jim Barbee said the store clerk walked out to throw trash in the dumpster and to smoke a cigarette while she stood outside the side of the building. Smith was parked in his car on the same side of the building, called the cashier over, and asked her for directions to a laundromat.
“She told him she didn’t know where a laundromat was because she’s not really from here and she washes her clothes at home,” Barbee said.
The conversation continued with Smith commenting on the woman’s “Yankee accent.”
“And then he said, ‘Well, welcome to the South; I’ve got something to give you,’” Barbee said. “And he pressed the little bag into her hand. It was about the size of a silver dollar, and she flipped out because a little of the white substance spilled out on her hand.”
A man in the parking lot saw what happened and confronted Smith. The two men “tussled through the driver’s side window, and the window broke during the tussle,” Barbee said.
“Then the guy’s feet got run over and (Smith) hit some shopping carts with his car, backed up and left,” he added.
In his escape efforts, Smith reportedly crashed through the gate of a nearby residence driveway and then crashed his car into a tree. He got out of the car and ran away, with Putnam County Sheriff’s K9 handler Cpl. Chris Donovan and K9 Nix on his heels.
Sills said Smith “was running like a wild man through briars that were so thick, the dog could not get through them, but Smith was running through them full speed like they weren’t even there.”
The deputies were unable to catch the fugitive.
The next day, the phone call came in about the naked Smith in the resident’s yard. By then, Putnam Sheriff’s Detective D. Turk had conducted a field test on the white substance in the small bag given to the cashier, and it tested positive for fentanyl.
The Eatonton Messenger reporter assumed aloud that no other drugs were found on Smith because he was naked.
Confirming that no other drugs were found, Sills added with a twinkle in his eye, “Well, he had on a beekeeper suit and golf shoes. But being a highly trained detective, I suspected those were not his sartorial.”