Matthew Ryll

Name:
RYLL, MATTHEW THOMAS

Date of Booking:
06/01/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
TRAFFICKING IN COCAINE, ILLEGAL DRUGS, MARIJUANA, OR METHAMPHETAMINE

FAIL TO DIM HEADLIGHTS

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 6/1/2025, I, Deputy W. Jordan #916 was traveling South bound on Bowdon Tyus Road near Victory Church Road, when I observed a white Nissan Sentra traveling in the North bound lane, to which the operator of said vehicle failed to dim their headlights when passing me.

Upon observing this violation, I performed a u-turn onto Victory Church Road and turned right onto Bowdon Tyus Road to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle. Upon initiating my emergency blue lights to conduct a traffic stop at Bowdon Tyus Road at Lake Clyde Circle. As I initiated my emergency blue lights in my marked Carroll County patrol vehicle, the white Nissan Sentra yielded to the right side of the road in the North bound lane of Bowdon Tyus.

As I made contact with the operator of the vehicle identified as Matthew Rlyy, I informed him of who I was, that I worked for the Sheriff’s Office, and that the reason for the stop was that he did not dim his headlights when he passed me, to which he agreed and stated that my headlights were bright. I informed Matthew that my headlights were in fact on dim and that they were manufacturer headlights. I requested Matthew produce his drivers license, to which he complied with no issues. I then requested the front seat passengers identification, to which she consented and advised me of her name and date of birth as Candace Wilson.

I then returned to my patrol vehicle and entered both Matthew and Candace’s information onto GCIC to check the status of their license and to see if they had any outstanding warrants for their arrest. As I entered Candace’s information onto GCIC I was met by a return of no driver on file, to which I had Carroll County dispatch enter Candace’s name as well onto GCIC. Carroll County dispatch advised me via my portable radio that they were met by a return of no driver on file as well. I also had Carroll County dispatch enter Matthew’s information onto GCIC, to which I was advised that his drivers license was not valid. After learning this and learning that Matthew has had previous arrest for illegal narcotics, I requested Deputy E. Boyd #948 arrive at the traffic stop location.

I then returned to the Nissan Sentra and began speaking with Matthew and Candace in regards to the GCIC returns, and lawfully ordered Matthew out of his vehicle, to which he complied and exited the vehicle. Deputy Boyd then arrived on scene to assist me with the traffic stop. As I entered Candace’s name onto Carroll County’s in house name search database, I was met with a return of a female named Candace Wilson, but I still needed further verification that it was her. Attached to the name on the in house database was a social security number, to which I asked the last four of her social security number. Candace then provided me with the correct last four numbers of the social security number, which confirmed that she was actually Candace Wilson. Candace then located her Georgia Drivers license after stating to me that she did not have them on her, to which it was a match for her being Candace Wilson.

After confirming Candace’s identity, I was still dealing with both Matthew and Candace not having a valid license to my knowledge. I asked Matthew if there was anything located inside of the vehicle that should not be, to which he stated that there was not and that it was not his vehicle. I then asked Matthew consent to search the vehicle, to which he stated once again that it was not his vehicle. I advised Matthew that due to him being the operator of said vehicle, that he was eligible to give me a yes or a no answer for consent to search the vehicle. Matthew then stated that he would say no, to which I did not ask him again, but Matthew then stated that he wished to give me consent to search the vehicle. As I received consent to search the vehicle, I returned to the Nissan Sentra and lawfully ordered Candace out of the vehicle, to which she complied with no issues. As I instructed Candace and Matthew to stand in front of my patrol vehicle, I began searching the vehicle based on Matthew giving me consent to do so.

As I began searching the vehicle, starting at the driver side, I opened the center console, which was in arms reach of both Matthew and Candace. As I opened the center console, I removed a few miscellaneous items from it, and was met by a yellow plastic bag containing a hard substance. By feeling the object inside of the bag, based on my training knowledge, and experience, I identified it as an illegal narcotic. I then opened the bag and observed a substantially large methamphetamine crystal located inside of it. As I found the methamphetamine, I returned to my patrol vehicle and placed Matthew in handcuffs, checked them for proper fit, and detained him for further investigation. As I was handcuffing Matthew, Deputy Boyd placed Candace in handcuffs as well. After detaining both Matthew and Candace, I read them their Miranda rights directly from a card, to which they both stated that they understood their rights and that they wished to speak with me.

As I began speaking with Matthew and Candace, I advised them that I found the methamphetamine based on a consent search, to which they agreed. I then asked Matthew and Candace if they had any knowledge if anything else would be located inside of the vehicle that was illegal, to which they stated that there was not. I then placed Candace in the backseat of my patrol vehicle and Matthew was placed in the backseat of Deputy Boyd’s patrol vehicle so that I could search the vehicle further. I then had an additional Carroll County Deputy arrive on scene with the Trunarc narcotics tester, to test the suspected methamphetamine. The Trunarc positively identified the narcotic as methamphetamine by scan number 1159. The methamphetamine weighed 28.7 grams. I then finished searching the vehicle and located no additional illegal narcotics.

I then began speaking with Candace about the methamphetamine that was located. Candace stated that she had no knowledge of the methamphetamine that was located inside of the vehicle. Candace stated that her vehicle had broken down near East Macintosh in Whitesburg and that she called her brother [WITNESS #1] to help her. Candace then advised me that [WITNESS #1] and his girlfriend [WITNESS #2] had arrived at her broken down vehicle’s location, as well as a male name [WITNESS #3]. Candace stated that [WITNESS #3] towed her vehicle to his house to work on it, to which her, [WITNESS #1], and [WITNESS #2] had followed [WITNESS #3] to his residence.

Candace stated that they all stayed at [WITNESS #3]’s residence for approximately 3 hours while attempting to repair her vehicle. Candace stated that Matthew was already at [WITNESS #3]’s residence when she arrived there. Candace informed me that [WITNESS #3] was moving his motorcycle out of the yard of his residence when he fell and injured his knee and ankle. Candace stated that they took care of [WITNESS #3], and by the time that they had done that it was late. Candace stated that Matthew did not have all of his leather clothing to ride his motorcycle, to which they left together in the white Nissan Sentra bearing the Georgia license plate [REDACTED] that is registered to [WITNESS #1]. Candace stated that it was at this time that they left and were stopped by me.

While I was taking Candace’s statement, Deputy Boyd began taking Matthew’s statement, which will be in a supplemental report attached to this report. After placing Matthew and Candace under arrest for trafficking methamphetamine, due to the amount, Matthew stated that she needed to take the charge because he would “go to prison”. Neither Matthew nor Candace took ownership of the methamphetamine and due to it being in the immediate area of both of them, I placed them both under arrest.

I then transported Candace and Deputy Boyd transported Matthew to the Carroll County Detention Center. I had Candace booked in on trafficking methamphetamine and had Matthew booked in for trafficking methamphetamine. I also cited Matthew for failure to dim his headlights, citation number 916090076.

[End of Narrative]