An Eatonton man with an extensive criminal history is once again in jail after he tried to bust into the home of a woman who was babysitting young children and then stole her vehicle. The woman attempted to stop him by shooting at the vehicle; meanwhile, the vehicle crashed and overturned, and the perpetrator fled away on foot.
David Willie Queen, 34, of Little River Trail, Eatonton, was arrested around 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, on charges of felony theft by taking, driving under the influence, driving while unlicensed, and probation violation.
According to reports from Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the victim, a 51-year-old woman who lives on Dennis Station Road, told deputies that she was driving along her road on the way home around 11:30 a.m. when she saw the man, later identified as Queen, walking toward Twin Bridges Road. She later saw him standing in front of her residence on the shoulder of the road. When she went to her mailbox to get her mail, Queen was on his hands and knees on the ground near her driveway and asked her for some water. She told him she did not have any bottled water, but she had a Dr. Pepper, which she went in and got. She handed him the soft drink, and he reportedly walked back toward the road. The woman locked her front door and took a shower. When she got out of the shower, Queen was banging on her front door, cursing and yelling at her to let him in. The woman armed herself with a Smith & Wesson .380 semi-automatic with a trace laser in case he busted through the door, she said.
At the time, the woman was babysitting a toddler and two infants, according to the reports, and the banging on the door began waking the sleeping children. As the woman tried to quieten them, she heard her 2005 Ford Explorer crank up in the driveway, and she looked out and saw Queen behind the steering wheel. She yelled at him to get out of her vehicle and fired one round in the direction of the vehicle, trying to hit a tire, Sheriff Howard Sills said. She was holding the toddler at the time. The vehicle was fishtailing up the driveway, according to Sgt. Jeffrey Duncan’s account on the report. When it got to the road, it went across the road and overturned in the ditch. Queen got out and ran into the woods.
Deputy Taylor Neal, Deputy Christopher Donovan, and K9 Nix went in the woods looking for Queen, following a trail parallel with the railroad tracks when they were notified by dispatch that Queen was seen on Twin Bridges Road. When they arrived there, Sheriff Sills and Col. Russell Blenk already had Queen in handcuffs.
“A motorist called and said they saw the subject walking on Twin Bridges Road, so Russell and I got there and I jumped out and pounced right on him,” Sills said. “I got blood all over my pants from where he was bleeding from lacerations from the wreck.”
The sheriff told Donovan to take Queen to jail. In his report, Donovan noted, “Queen spontaneously uttered he was sorry for what he did and he just needed some help. Queen was very fidgety in the rear of my patrol vehicle.”
While en route to the jail, Sills had Donovan pull over so the victim could identify Queen as the one who stole her vehicle. When Donovan opened the door of his patrol vehicle, Queen told the woman, “I’m sorry.”
At Sgt. Justin Brock’s instruction, Donovan took Queen to Putnam General Hospital for treatment of the lacerations he sustained in the crash. When they arrived back at the jail, Sills had a probation officer administer a drug test on Queen. It tested positive for methamphetamines and benzodiazepines, according to Sills’ report of the incident.
Detective Chris Harper assisted in the investigation of the scene. He noted the damage to the Ford Explorer that Queen crashed came to an estimated total of $32,789.48.
Queen is being held without bond at Putnam County Jail.
In a couple of the deputies’ reports, it was noted that the deputy recognized Queen from previous encounters with him. Sills said Queen has been arrested 36 times before this arrest and has three felony convictions.