Tavarus Jones

Name:
Jones, Tavarus Jamal

Date of Booking:
12/17/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
HIT AND RUN; DUTY OF DRIVER TO STOP AT OR RETURN TO SCENE OF ACCIDENT

DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED OR REVOKED (MISDEMEANOR)

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.]

[NARRATIVE #1 on December 13, 2025]

Vehicle 2 and Vehicle 1 were both traveling northbound on West General Screven Way near the intersection of Fraser Circle when they were involved in a collision with each other. Vehicle 2 immediately fled the scene of the crash.

Driver 1 said she had just turned left from the driveway of 447 West General Screven Way (Pizza Hut) and was changing lanes when her vehicle was struck by Vehicle 2. She said she thought Vehicle 2 had turned right from either Fraser Circle, the driveway of the Convenience Store at 438 West General Screven Way (Sunoco) or the driveway of 420 West General Screven Way.

She said Vehicle 2 immediately fled the scene and turned left onto Saunders Avenue. She described Vehicle 2 as a silver Hyundai Sonata with damage on the driver’s side middle but she could not provide a description of [Driver 2]. She later said she was not entirely sure Vehicle 2 was a Hyundai Sonata.

Units responded to [100 BLOCK] Saunders Avenue (Harbor Rain Apartments) but they were unable to find a vehicle matching the description of Vehicle 2 provided by Driver 1.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #2 on December 15, 2025]

On 12-15-2025, I responded to Sunoco and reviewed surveillance footage of the collision. I was advised that the timestamp on the surveillance footage was showing two hours ahead of the actual time. I was able to identify Vehicle 2 as a gray Ford Fusion with moderate damage to the hood consisting of dents. I identified a black male and black female as occupants of the vehicle. The black male exited from the driver’s seat as they got out of Vehicle 2 after it parked and they walked into the business.

After selecting several items for purchase and paying, they returned to the vehicle and the black male re-entered the driver’s seat. They departed and turned right from Fraser Circle onto West General Screven Way as Vehicle 1 turned left from the driveway of Pizza Hut. The collision occurred in the roadway as they both traveled northbound.

I responded to Harbor Rain Apartments and made contact with the office staff to review surveillance footage. Immediately after the collision occurred, I observed a gray Ford Fusion on the gate surveillance camera entering the apartment complex at a moderate rate of speed. The damage on the hood of this vehicle matched what was seen on Sunoco’s surveillance and I positively identified the vehicle as Vehicle 2.

A surveillance camera at the gate aimed to capture vehicle tags showed Vehicle 2 with a Georgia Tag of [REDACTED] and an NCIC/GCIC check of this tag showed the registered owner as Tavarus Jones. I further reviewed the Sunoco surveillance footage and observed that Mr Jones’s driver’s license picture matched to the black male seen exiting from Vehicle 2’s driver’s seat, entering and conducting business at the convenience store and then leaving and re-entering Vehicle 2’s driver’s seat.

I attempted to locate Driver 2 at the address listed on his georgia driver’s license but the residence appeared to be vacant and Vehicle 2 was not located there. Lt Hensler #158 found another local address but Vehicle 2 was not observed at that location. It was discovered that Driver 2 was on active probation with Hinesville Police Department and I made contact with Probation Officer Abbott and advised him of my investigation involving Driver 2.

On 12-17-2025, I was informed that Driver 2 was in Probation Officer Abbott’s office and I made contact with him. I advised Driver 2 of the status of my investigation and he admitted he had been involved in a collision on 12-13-2025 but he said his female passenger had been driving because his license was suspended.

I advised him that the surveillance footage showed him exiting from and re-entering the driver’s seat of Vehicle 2 and he then admitted that he had been driving. He said he had made his right turn from Fraser Circle onto West General Screven Way and he was traveling in the number 1 Northbound Lane when Vehicle 1 merged into his lane and struck his vehicle. He said he fled the scene because his license was suspended and his vehicle was not insured. Driver 2 said he did not know any identifying information for his female passenger to include a name, address or date of birth.

I sent an email to Hugo Insurance’s customer service and they verified that Vehicle 2’s policy was active at the time the collision occurred but it had cancelled on 12-13-2025 at 2127 hrs. I located Vehicle 2 parked in the parking lot of the police department and a tow service was called to the police department. Vehicle 2 was impounded and released to Liberty Towing.

Driver 2 was placed under arrest, cited for driving on a suspended license and hit and run of an occupied vehicle with a municipal court date of 1-14-2025 and transported by Cpl Joseph #140 to the Liberty County Jail. Driver 2 was released into the jail’s custody.

On 12-18-2025, I conducted a further review of the surveillance footage of the crash and determined that Vehicle 2 made a right turn and immediately entered the number 2 Northbound Lane of West General Screven Way. At the same time, Vehicle 1 had turned left from the driveway of Pizza Hut and entered the Northbound Center Turn Lane before merging to the right and striking Vehicle 2.

Investigation revealed that Driver 1 made an improper lane change as per Georgia Code 40-6-48(1) and Driver 2 was driving on a suspended license and fled the scene of a collision involving an occupied vehicle as per Georgia Codes 40-5-121(A) and 40-6-270.

The arrest and transport of Driver 2 followed department protocol (placed in double-locked handcuffs which were checked for fit, searched for weapons or contraband with none found and seat-belted in the transport vehicle’s back seat). The back seat of Cpl Joseph’s vehicle was searched before and after transport with no contraband found.

[End of Narrative]