Jason Dye

Name:
Dye, Jason Lee

Date of Booking:
11/25/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
CRUELTY TO CHILDREN-CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE/CAUSES EXCESSIVE PHYS/MENTAL PAIN-2ND DEGREE

GIVING FALSE NAME, ADDRESS, OR BIRTHDATE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

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 November 24, 2025]

On 11-24-2025, I, Deputy Shedd, while on patrol in Rabun County, responded to assist CPL. Ortega with a welfare check at [REDACTED BY AGENCY] Marsen Knob Drive Apartment [REDACTED BY AGENCY], which is located within the jurisdiction of Rabun County.

The 911 center advised that a small child under the age of two was left unattended in an apartment while the adult male was passed out and not watching the child. I arrived on scene after Ortega and met him inside the apartment where there was a single adult male standing inside the apartment in a back bedroom. As he stood, I observed the male to be swaying, unsteady on his feet and a strong odor of alcoholic beverage was emitting from his person.

Ortega expressed that the male, was not in a safe state to watch the child. As he spoke, the male was slurring his words, and making statements that did not make sense. I observed in the residence to be numerous areas of items that were discarded across the floor such as clothing, blankets, trash bags, trash overflowing a trash can, etc. I observed that on the counter was a glass beer bottle with no lid, and in arms reach of the child was an open fifth of alcohol that also had no lid, placing the alcohol in easy access to the child.

I assessed the rest of the apartment and as I did, I noticed that the apartment was messy, and it appeared as if a child had gone into each room and knocked everything over. As I spoke to the adult, identified as Jason Dye, he was extremely argumentative with Ortega using racial slurs, cursing by using profane language and screaming while pointing in Ortega’s face. As he did so, I continued to smell the odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his person.

Ortega advised me that he had knocked numerous times, and that he noticed the door was unlocked. At that point he observed the male to be passed out, and not responding while the child was unsupervised. Dye, during his argumentative state, said he had let Ortega in, and that we were trying to “take his child”. While Dye argued with Ortega, I noticed that the small child had ran out of sight into another room and I could hear a commotion in the back bedroom. Dye, at no point, stopped arguing and screaming to check on her.

I then spoke one on one with Dye, and Ortega exited the apartment as Dye was arguing about a previous call for service. I explained to him that based on the condition he was in, the way the residence was and the child being unsupervised, that I also did not think he was in a safe state of mind to safely take care of his child. He then picked the child up and began to argue about how I did not know how to talk to children and asked what it looked like he was doing as he held his child. His statements further did not make sense and I asked him to call someone to take possession of the child. He then said he could call his mother, however he could not find his cell phone.

He stumbled around the living room looking for his cell phone, stopping and then yelling that he wanted all of our “badge cams” numerous times and would talk about the previous incident involving other deputies. I then asked him to call again, where he could not find his phone. I then asked Deputy Deason to obtain his cell phone so I could call for Dye as he was too intoxicated to focus on the tasks at hand. I asked Dye for the cell phone number to his mother in which he provided it in a manner that was not understandable.

I then spoke with him and I asked again to provide it in a calm manner. He then walked over to cut off a loud computer that was playing a child’s video. He picked up an X-Box controller that did not work for the computer but rather controlled a nearby TV. He attempted numerous times to do so and then realized it did not work.

He obtained his cell phone and made contact with his mother where he was yelling into the phone and was more focused on describing how “big” of a person I was standing inside his apartment and that we were there to take his child. I was eventually able to obtain the phone from Dye and I explained the situation to the mother.

She said that she was not in town but would contact the sister to respond to take possession of the child. I returned the phone to Dye who was now sitting on the floor. A short time later Dye stumbled into the child’s bedroom where he was trying to clean up in the apartment removing the roll of trashbags in the floor, and items in the bedroom. As the child was coloring, I had him step out to the living room and I asked him to provide me with his drivers license for the incident report so I could obtain his identity.

Dye refused to provide me with his license or offer to provide any form of identification. I then asked him to again provide it in which he said no, he would not. I then asked him for his name and date of birth where he provided me with the incorrect name, identifying himself as “Steve Pillows” with a date of birth ending in 2002.

I confirmed this numerous times as he clearly was providing false information, and he said that it was correct. At this time I asked Ortega what his course of action was as it was his call, and I was simply attempting to mediate as I had no prior encounters with Dye, and he advised he was going to arrest Dye.

At this time, I calmly spoke to Dye and Ortega and Deputy Deason assisted in placing Dye into handcuffs at the rear, and I advised Dye he was under arrest for cruelty to children and providing a false name and date of birth to law enforcement. While doing so, two missed phone calls from Dye’s mother had occurred and I asked him how we could call her back and he refused to answer.

I explained that the mother is the only way we can contact someone to take possession of the child and Dye refused to help me contact her. I advised him that he is going to jail, and by not helping contact someone to take possession of the child it further demonstrated his lack of caring and responsibility for his child.

Another phone call came in from Dye’s sister, and she advised that she was coming from Otto, North Carolina. I provided her the address and stood by for her arrival. As I assessed the situation, I noticed that there was numerous hazardous items on the floor such as dish detergent that had been pulled out from under the cabinet, and there were numerous pool chemicals accessible to the small child.

I then met with the sister, who took possession of the child after I conducted a drivers license status check and determined she was not wanted and was licensed, and had the proper seat system for the small child. Upon obtaining the child, all units cleared the scene.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #2 on November 25, 2025]

On Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at approximately 1:05, I, Corporal A. Ortega, responded to [REDACTED BY AGENCY] Marsen Knob Dr. Apt [REDACTED BY AGENCY], Rabun Gap, GA, in reference to a welfare check.

Dispatch advised that a third-party caller who wished to remain anonymous stated that there was a 2-year-old juvenile child (with possible special needs) inside the apartment, and her father was passed out drunk on the living room floor.

The third-party caller stated he had gone to check on the child, opened the door to his apartment, and found him on the floor.

On scene, I knocked loudly on the apartment’s front door twice. I announced myself a second time after knocking again, but still received no answer. It should be noted that I could hear a television in the background that seemed to be playing from the living room. After a moment, I discovered the door was unlocked and looked inside the apartment. I noticed a male lying on his stomach on the floor in the middle of the living room, and a faint odor of an alcoholic beverage wafting from inside the apartment. The male subject was later identified as Jason Lee Dye.

At this moment, a male subject in the area approached me and advised me that he was the caller. The caller stated that only the female child and Jason were living at the apartment. The caller said he had been drinking with Jason at his apartment, and at one point, they took “shots”.

The caller stated he had left and came back after a while because he had forgotten his jacket inside Jason’s apartment. The caller stated he had knocked on the door but had received no answer. The caller said he saw Jason lying on the floor, and that the female child was running around inside the apartment, “messing with stuff.” I then asked him if he knew who he was, and he stated it was a Jason Dye subject.

I then went back to the apartment’s front door and attempted to wake Jason several times, but was unsuccessful. It should be noted that the female child was walking in the apartment hallway at this time. I called the dispatch center by phone due to poor radio reception, and as I relayed information, Jason finally woke up. The female child was later identified as [REDACTED BY AGENCY], Jason’s daughter.

I informed Jason why I was there and asked if I could go inside the residence, to which he said I could. Jason began walking towards the bedroom at the end of the hallway, and I noticed there were multiple empty bags on the kitchen floor, an open alcohol container on the kitchen counter, food on the floor, and on a small table. I also noticed that the bathroom door was left open in the bedroom.

Once at the bedroom door with Jason, I began explaining the current situation to him. I also advised Jason that I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath, and I noticed his eyes were glossy and bloodshot.

I asked Jason whether he had sole custody of the child, and he said they were fine. I asked Jason to wait in the living room at this time and spoke to Deputy M. Shedd at the residence’s front door about what I had gathered so far. While I was talking to Deputy Shedd, Jason attempted to close the door on us. We advised him that he would not do that and told him to back up, which he did.

I then spoke to Jason and advised him that I did not feel like it was safe for him to be watching over [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and he once again stated they were fine. I informed Jason that it appeared he had been out for a while, based on the number of items scattered throughout the residence. Jason then asked me for the time, and I advised him that he needed to tell me. He looked over at the television and stated he had been passed out since 12:30 am.

Jason stated he was upstairs meeting the neighbors and claimed shortly after he had gone to sleep in the living room with his daughter. Jason said he did not have to leave his daughter unattended, and Deputy Shedd once again pointed out that multiple items were scattered throughout the residence that his daughter could access while he was passed out. Deputy Shedd asked Jason if there was someone else who could take care of his daughter, and he stated that he could call his mother.

While Jason was looking for his phone, which he couldn’t find for a while, he began getting upset with me over a previous incident he was involved in that I had documented. I stepped away from Jason at this point so he could calm down, and went outside so he could focus on finding his phone. Deputy Shedd remained inside the residence with Jason while I stood by the front door.

Once Jason found his phone, he tried to call his mother, but she was out of town and unable to. His mother stated he could call Jason’s sister, and she could go pick him up. Deputy Shedd then began asking Jason for his personal information because a report was being documented. Jason stated his name was “Steve Rodgers Pillow” and his date of birth was “[REDACTED]”. Deputy Shedd then confirmed Jason’s personal information with him, and Jason agreed it was all correct.

My investigation determined that Jason’s daughter had access to numerous items inside the residence, which could cause physical pain to the child if misused. Jason was incapable of being his daughter’s caregiver due to his inebriated state, and created a situation where his daughter was at risk of receiving harm due to being unattended.

I arrested Jason, handcuffed his arms behind his back, checked the cuffs for fit, and double-locked them. I searched Jason incident to arrest, and no contraband was found on his person. I secured Jason in the backseat of my patrol vehicle, which I had searched and cleared for contraband before transport.

Jason’s sister was identified as [REDACTED], and Deputy Shedd remained on scene until she arrvied to pick up Jason’s daughter.

Upon arrival at the detention center, I turned Jason over to the detention staff without an issue. A back seat search after the transport revealed no contraband.

I will be obtaining warrants on Jason for Cruelty to Children – 2nd degree, Giving false name and date of birth to law enforcement. See the linked files for further.

[End of Narrative]