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Name:
McGinnis, Joseph Benjamin
Date of Booking:
07/19/2026
Reason(s) For Booking:
DUI / ALCOHOL / LESS SAFE
DUI / CHILD ENDANGERMENT
OPEN CONTAINER OF ALCOHOL
SPEEDING
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 07/19/2026, I, Cpl. Wilks, was sitting stationary at Highway 48 Foodmart checking for speeding violations, parallel to the road, angled westbound. At or around 1145 hours a black Chevy Equinox was traveling west approaching from the rear when my rear antenna captured a speed of 76 mph in a 55 mph zone, still accelerating. I switched to my front antenna and captured the vehicle climbing in speeds up to 82 mph. I turned my emergency lights and sirens on and went after the vehicle where it came to a final stop at the Mahan gas station.
I approached the driver and explained why I stopped him then asked for the his driver’s license. The driver was later identified as Joseph McGinnis and gave me an excuse of he was “just trying to pass other vehicles, and was sorry.” While speaking with him I also noticed a male JUV sitting in the back seat fastened in his car seat. I went back to my vehicle and checked the driver’s information as it started to rain very heavily.
Deputy Claxton later arrived on scene to check on me due to poor radio service. A speeding ticket was later issued to Joseph where he signed it and was given a court date and his driver’s licenses given back to him. Deputy Claxton began to speak with the driver and at this point it was not raining, and there was no strong wind. Deputy Claxton stated that the male subject smelled like alcoholic beverage, and it was coming from his breath. Deputy Claxton also stated that the driver had a faint odor of marijuana come from his person. Based on these circumstances I asked the driver to do field sobriety.
McGinnis consented to standard field sobriety and some clues were observed. Two clues were detected during HGN where the left eye had Nystagmus at maximum deviation, and on set prior to 45 degrees. During the walk and turn McGinnis stepped out of instructional phase and never walked heel to toe on the front and back 9 steps.
The one leg stand he barley raised his foot off the ground to where it was almost touching. Its noted that while speaking and explained the instructions McGinnis’ eyes were bloodshot with an odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath. A search of the vehicle yield one 24 oz almost empty Redd’s apple ale.
McGinnis was arrested for DUI, Dui-Child Endangerment, speeding, and open container. He was read Georgia’s implied consent notice for suspects over the age of 21 where he consented to a blood draw. I also confirmed the male Juv in the back seat was his son and was 3 YOA. He was later transported to station 12 where paramedic [REDACTED] got a successfully blood draw, then transported to Chattooga County Detention.
Deputy Claxton stayed on scene where the mother came and got the child and retrieved the vehicle.
[End of Narrative]