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Written by: E. George
Published February 11, 2023 @ 1:45 PM ET
Bartow County (January 24, 2023) – While working in the intake/booking department at the Bartow County Jail, an officer scanned an inmate and noticed a metal object in his rectum on the X-ray. He asked the inmate if he had ever had surgery, and he said he had not. A second scan revealed that the metal item had shifted, so he conducted a disrobe search but did not find anything.
After a third X-ray scan revealed the same results, the officer placed the inmate, Joseph Donovan Davis, in an isolation cell to separate him from the other inmates. The officer was advised an hour later that Davis had a lighter and suspected tobacco in his anus.
When he approached the cell, Davis admitted to possessing a lighter and tobacco and handed them over, covered in plastic wrap.
The officer secured a warrant due to Davis’ intent to bring contraband inside the jail. He was arrested for a parole violation, crossing guard lines with weapons, intoxicants, or drugs without the consent of the warden or superintendent, and the felony of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. This case is currently pending.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On January 24th, 2023 at approximately 1204 hours I was working at the Bartow County Jail in intake/booking.
Inmate Joseph Davis was brought in by Civil Division from another facility. I conducted a patdown search on Joseph and place him in the TEK84 X-Ray scanner. I noticed a metal object on the X-Ray around his rectum area. I asked him if he has ever had surgery before and he advised he had not. I conducted another scan and asked him to hold his shirt above his stomach, and the scanned showed the same metal object in his rectum area, but had moved.
Due to the foreign metal object I conducted a disrobe search in an effort to keep contraband out of the jail. I did not find anything. I scanned him again, and the foreign metal object was still in his rectum area.
Due to the suspected metal object I placed him in an isolation cell to keep him away from other inmates. Approximately an hour later I was advised that Joseph had a lighter and suspected tobacco in his an*s.
I went to his isolation cell and Joseph told me he had a lighter and tobacco. Joseph handed me a lighter and suspected tobacco wrapped in saran wrap.
I secured a warrant for crossing the guard lines due to Joseph bringing in a lighter and suspected tobacco in his an*s with the intent to bring the contraband into the jail.
The tobacco was placed into evidence for destruction. The lighter, and video was placed into evidence for this case.
[End of Narrative]
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