Tamara Devoe

Name:
Devoe, Tamara Kiera

Date of Booking:
01/18/2026

Reason(s) For Booking:
DISORDERLY CONDUCT – M

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 the above date and time, I responded with a secondary unit to [13000 BLOCK] Hermitage Cir (private residence) in reference to a suspicious vehicle call. The call was completed with 2 arrests made.

The complainant, who is a neighbor of the residence listed above, stated to Chatham County Dispatchers that “neighbor’s family member parks in the area and smokes drugs.” The caller gave the vehicle description: gray Nissan Altima, Georgia license plate [REDACTED]. While enroute, the caller advised that a second vehicle had pulled up to the residence and that individual got into the Nissan Altima.

On scene, I observed the Nissan Altima parked on the wrong side of the road, alongside the island separation (eventually, Cpl. Reyes-Rosa was given permission to move it so it was parked legally). The windows were totally fogged up, which was not unusual for an occupied vehicle on this day because of the rainy weather and inconsistent temperatures (ranging from 40-48 degrees Fahrenheit).

I parked behind the running vehicle, exited and as I approached the parked vehicle, the fog in the vehicle became less consistent with condensation and more of that of what is referred to as “hotboxing”, which entails an individual smoking marijuana in an enclosed area and not allowing the exhaled smoke to dissipate into the open air. I recognized this to be the case, based on my knowledge, training and experience of the odor of marijuana.

Because I was unable to see into the vehicle, I stood at the C-Post of the vehicle (the rear left side window) and knocked on it. The person in the driver’s seat rolled down the window and a plume of smoke quickly escaped from the vehicle. I asked the driver if he could think of any reason I would be out with him and he said no then mentioned that it might be because he was sitting in the car with his girlfriend. I asked him what they were doing and he stated they were “just chilling.” I mentioned hotboxing and he dropped his head, almost as if he knew he was caught.

I requested both of their driver’s license information and they complied; I began explaining to them about smoking marijuana in public spaces versus private spaces. The driver, identified as Russell Kapers Jr., stated that he understood but because of the rain, they came and sat in the car. I asked Mr. Kapers if the vehicle was his and he nodded his head yes, I already knew the vehicle was registered to his father, who shares the same name as him. When I mentioned that, he agreed with me but said that he is the main driver.

I asked Mr. Kapers if he had anything else in the vehicle, including any more marijuana and he said yes; held out a partially rolled joint with sizable glm/marijuana flowers. I advised him to drop it; he threw it into the center of the island. He was asked to step out and destroy it; he complied. As I began to walk back to my vehicle to confirm Mr. Kapers’ information, Officer D. Thomas suddenly told me that there was a firearm in the vehicle.

I walked back to vehicle passenger side where the passenger/girlfriend, Tamare Devoe, was sitting. Officer Thomas clearly stated, “without reaching for anything, tell me where the firearm is.” As he was saying those words, Mr. Kapers leaned back in his seat and began reaching. I opened the rear right-side door where Mr. Kapers right side body was now mostly in the backseat and immediately noticed a large clear bag of what appeared to be glm/marijuana buds in the floorboard next to a black rifle style firearm.

Mr. Kapers repositioned himself in the driver’s seat while maintaining eye contact with me. I told Ms. Devoe to exit the vehicle and with continued eye contact with Mr. Kapers, told him not to do anything other than what I told him to do. I made my way back to the driver’s side where he was, he opened the door, stepped out, and immediately put his hands behind his back. Ms. Devoe began getting upset and her voice started to elevate. He told her, “It’s all over, it’s all over.”

Mr. Kapers walked back to my patrol vehicle and was searched incident to arrest. He calmly sat down and complied with everything requested/asked of him. Ms. Devoe was outside of the vehicle, crying and asking, “why are y’all doing this?” I walked back over to her and calmly repeated everything I had told them both when they were sitting in Mr. Kapers’ vehicle about smoking in/on public property versus smoking in/on private property. This only seemed to upset her more, but she still was compliant at this point.

Shortly after, Cpl. Reyes-Rosa arrived on scene and made the firearm safe; confirmed through NCIC/GCIC that it was not stolen. When he approached Mr. Kapers’ vehicle, Ms. Devoe began to talk loudly at him about getting near the car and telling him that I had already gone through the vehicle. She was again told to take a deep breath, ignore him, and listen to what was being told to her. She was told that she was not under arrest and that she could go into her home, and that if she chose to remain out with us, she needed to calm down and stop being loud. Minutes later, Ms. Devoe’s family arrived, from what appeared to be church and asked what was going on.

Almost in sync with the questions, Ms. Devoe’s frustrations rose to an almost uncontrollable level and she started yelling and screaming at her family. At one point, she told one of her family members something I could not coherently understand but took a stance in front of the older gentlemen seeming to be taunt him into putting his hands on her.

At that point, she was placed under arrest. Her anger was clearly marked towards her family, but the level of screaming was literally reverberating off of the police vehicles, disturbing residents in the area who I began noticing were coming to their front doors and looking out windows. Ms. Devoe did try and pull away a few times, but each time she did, she only secured herself more into our hands and the placement of the handcuffs. She was placed under arrest for Disorderly Conduct (O.C.G.A. 26-11-39).

Mr. Kapers was transported to CCDC without any incident. He was charged with Possession of Marijuana (O.C.G.A. 16-13-30(c ) and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Crime (O.C.G.A 16-11-106). There were no less than 5 empty Marshmallow brand THC/CBD flower pouches in the center console of Mr. Kapers vehicle, because they were empty, they were not removed. There was a single still sealed Marshmallow brand THC/CBD flower pouch that was taken for evidence.

There was no charge given on this, but after speaking with a supervisor, it was determined that the THC content of this brand is not a compliant content of the state of Georgia (Georgia’s legal limit is .3% Delta 9 THC; the package collected had over 35% THC), suggesting that the pouches are purchased from an out of state location. The clear bag of glm/marijuana was weighed at the Property Room and came out to 420.00 grams-the bag itself had written on it “454g” which is just over a pound.

The clear bag of marijuana, the Marshmallow brand THC/CBD, and the firearm were all put into the property room as evidence.

[End of Narrative]