Jumping into shoulder-deep water on a winter day didn’t help a wanted man from escaping Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies, and neither did it help two other men who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Sheriff Howard Sills said.
Deputies learned that a man they were searching for, known as “Jello” Williams, was at a residence on the 100 block of Little River Trail, Sills said.
The responding deputies knew Williams had left the residence in a car and they put out a BOLO with the description of the car. Deputy Paul Bernichon saw the car on Twin Bridges Road and was able to pull the driver over on U.S. Hwy. 441 at the intersection of Pea Ridge Road.
“At which time Jello jumped out of the car and ran into the woods,” Sills said. “So, we all headed down there at that time to join the manhunt.”
Corporal Chris Donovan and K9 Nix also responded, and Nix immediately picked up a fresh track in the woods that went through a housing subdivision.
“Lieutenant Harry Luke was also there, and he went searching through the neighborhood and found a subject in a shed behind a house that he thought was Williams, but he wasn’t, but it turned out that person was wanted, too,” Sills said.
K9 Nix continued “on a very hot track, meaning it was very fresh, and eventually, he got within 10-20 yards away” from Williams, Sills described, saying the track was on the banks of Rooty Creek, headed toward Pea Ridge Road.
Approximately 50 yards away from the bridge on Pea Ridge Road near the fire station, Williams jumped into the creek.
“We were all standing by the bridge and the dog wanted a piece of him real bad, but no matter what we told him, Jello would not come out of the creek and then he made a turn like he was going to go farther into the creek, so Donovan jumped into the creek himself and went over and cuffed him up and dragged him out,” Sills said.
Sills said the water there was up to Donovan’s badge and to Williams’ armpits, and Donovan’s body camera was unharmed by the water, but his Taser was destroyed.
“I asked Donovan if was it cold and he said he’d been running so long he’d gotten hot, so it felt good,” Sills said. “But they had been running through some thick briars and undergrowth, too. Jello lost his shoes somewhere, so when we pulled him out of the creek, he didn’t have any shoes on.”
Nekeia Jamal “Jello” Williams, 41, of Little River Court, Eatonton, was arrested around 4:25 p.m. on Feb. 14 and is being held in Putnam County jail facing charges of felony first-degree burglary, six misdemeanor counts of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and probation violation.
The man in the shed behind the house, Boris Jermaine Dennis, 39, of Pea Ridge Circle, Eatonton, was taken to jail on charges of probation violation and obstruction, according to jail reports.
Sills said Donovan also arrested another man at the scene on unrelated charges – Doyle Shane Jenkins, 45, of North River Run, Eatonton – who was charged with driving while his license was withdrawn and failure to maintain lane.
“So, we got a threefer out of all that,” Sills said.