Dear Editor,
Friday, March 3, I received a message that (Putnam County) Sheriff Howard Sills would be arriving at my residence shortly after lunch.
He came to offer his apology and to give me back my bullets! Along with those bullets (9), two of my sidearms were also returned.
One of those sidearms I was accused of stealing, the other I was accused of possible possession of a firearm by a possible felon: none true, hence my visit by Howard Sills.
My name is Lawrence Jones, a.k.a. “Wizzer.” This is my retraction.
(Editor’s note: Mr. Jones was arrested on Feb. 16, by Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies and according to his official incident report, was charged with “Theft, receiving stolen property” and “Convicted felons, possession of firearms prohibited.” The charges he faced at the time, along with his photo, were reported on page A7 of the Feb. 23 edition of The Eatonton Messenger.
However, further Sheriff’s office investigation revealed the “stolen” gun in question turned out to be falsely reported as stolen and the person who filed the initial stolen property complaint was subsequently arrested by Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies for filing a false crime report. Also, the felony Mr. Jones was accused of and tried for occurred 49 years ago in North Carolina, but the charges there were pleaded down to misdemeanors, so although convicted, he was not, in fact, a felon.
Sheriff Sills confirmed to The Eatonton Messenger that after gathering the facts he did visit Mr. Jones at home on March 3, and apologized for him having to spend a night in jail. However, Sills said he did not apologize for any actions taken by his deputies and said his office acted correctly and appropriately based on all information available at the time of the arrest.)