Kaitlyn Pendergrass

Name:
Pendergrass, Kaitlyn Abigale

Date of Booking:
02/09/2023

Reason(s) For Booking:
Furnishing to,Purchasing of, or possession of Alcholic Beverage by person under age 21

Open Container Violation Beer/Ale/Proter/Stout/Other Similar Beverages

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 2/8/2023 I, Officer Hunt was patrolling in the area of the South Main Recreation Center (Rec) due to people loitering and prowling after hours. While traveling towards the rear of the Rec I noticed two white vehicles parked near the baseball field. One vehicle, a Nissan Murano, appeared to be unoccupied at the time. The second vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe was parked two spaces away from the Nissan, and had the headlights on.

I continued through the Rec towards the walking trail, that is when I confirmed that the Nissan was indeed unoccupied. Subsequently while I continued on I also noticed that no one was around the vehicle, or in any other area of the Rec. Due to reasonable suspicion of the Chevrolet being the only vehicle possibly occupied due to the headlights being on, and both vehicles were parked in the far corner of the Rec, it was believed that possible illegal activity was occurring.

I, Officer Hunt pulled my patrol car behind the Chevrolet, and initiated a tier 2 encounter with the occupants of the vehicle. I approached the driver side of the vehicle, and advised the driver for the reason for the encounter being it was after hours and they were sitting in the back of the rec area. The driver was asked to provide a driver license, which he did and the information was relayed to Walker County 911. The information returned to Joshua Ayden Hernandez, as well as the vehicle returning to him.

As the encounter continued I detected the faint odor of raw unburned marijuana coming from inside the Chevrolet. Mr. Hernandez was asked if he was in possession of any marijuana, which Mr. Hernandez denied. Mr. Hernandez was asked if he smoked any marijuana recently in the vehicle, which Mr. Hernandez advised he did approximately around 6 a.m on the incident date. Mr. Hernandez was visibly shaking, stuttering his speech, and unable to maintain eye contact during the encounter.

Based on Mr. Hernandez behavior, and once Corporal Sprouse arrived on scene, Mr. Hernandez was asked to step out of the vehicle along with the passenger. Mr. Hernandez stepped out of the vehicle, and I asked again if there was anything in the vehicle, which Mr. Hernandez hesitantly stated no. I continued to explain the situation, and his behavior that was observed to Mr. Hernandez. At that time Mr. Hernandez admitted that there was marijuana in the vehicle.

Mr. Hernandez was moved to the rear of the vehicle along with the passenger and Corporal Sprouse. The front of the passenger compartment of the Chevrolet was searched. During the search, I located a grinder container containing a ground up green leafy substance, and several alcoholic beverage caps. The Chevrolet was further searched in the rear passenger compartment after finding the alcoholic beverage caps, and that is when the alcoholic beverage of “Jack Daniels” was located.

I, Officer Hunt returned to the rear of the vehicle and spoke with both Mr. Hernandez and the passenger. The Passenger was asked to provide a driver license, however she did not have one on her person at that time. Her name and date of birth were relayed to Walker County 911, and returned Kaitlyn Pendergrass, who was also the driver of the Nissan vehicle.

I spoke with both and asked who consumed the alcoholic beverages found in the rear passenger compartment of the vehicle. Mrs. Pendergrass denied consuming any alcohol, and Mr. Hernandez stated he consumed only one approximately five minutes prior to the encounter. Both six packs of the “Jack Daniels” were retrieved from the rear compartment, and six bottles were empty with three full bottles and one partially emptied, as well as four unaccounted for at the time.

After further investigation by Officers on scene it was determined that Mr. Hernandez consumed two of the alcoholic beverages, Mrs. Pendergrass consumed four of the alcoholic beverages, and Mrs. Pendergrass removed the four unaccounted for beverages prior to meeting up with Mr. Hernandez.

Due to Mr. Hernandez and Mrs. Pendergrass being under the age of 21 years old, and having admitted to consuming the alcoholic beverages found, they were placed in handcuffs, double checked for fit, and double locked to prevent tightening. Mr. Hernandez was placed in the back of my patrol car, and was searched incident to arrest. Mrs. Pendergrass was placed in the rear of Officer Guthrie’s vehicle, and was searched incident to arrest.

Due to admitting to the consumption of alcoholic beverage they were charged Underage Consumption of Alcohol, and due to both parties having equal access to the beverages they were both charged with open containers. Both were transported to Walker County Detention. Mrs. Pendergrass Nissan Murano was driven away by people she authorized to drive the vehicle, and Mr. Hernandez requested his vehicle remain on scene for his sister [REDACTED] to retrieve later.

The suspected marijuana and alcohol that was discovered was properly destroyed and discarded.

[End of Narrative]