Filemon Canales-Rangel

Name:
Canales-Rangel, Filemon

Date of Booking:
01/03/2026

Reason(s) For Booking:
Possession And Use Of Drug-Related Objects

Dui- Driving Under Influence Of Multiple Substances

Open Container Violation

Aggressive Driving

Failure To Maintain Lane

Improper Lane Change Or Usage

Reckless Driving

Hit & Run; Driver To Stop/ Return To Accident Scene

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 Saturday, January 3, 2025, at approximately 1308 hours, the Whitfield County Communication Center advised all Deputies of a Be on the Lookout (BOLO) for a Blue in color, BMW Wagon bearing Georgia registration place [REDACTED] that just hit the caller and was traveling north on Cedar Ridge Rd. Deputy Vazquez advised dispatch that he was on E Walnut and Olivia Ln and would be in route do to the locations being relatively close to each other.

The caller/victim, who was later identified as [VICTIM #1], stated he was behind the offender and that he was following the offender vehicle. Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated advised that he and the Offender were traveling in the upwards of 90 miles per hour (MPH) and the offender was attempting to get away from him. Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated that they continued north and crossed over to Lower Dawnville (286) from Cedar Ridge. Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated that their speeds were exceeding 90 miles an hour and that the offenders front bumper flew off his vehicle. The front bumper was later located by Franks Towing.

Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated that the offender turned into on coming traffic going onto Dawnville Rd from Lower Dawnville. Mr. [VICTIM #1] advised that the offender vehicle continued to pass vehicles and drive into on coming traffic in attempt to get away from him.

Both vehicles continued down Dawnville until they made a left hand turn onto Pleasant Grove D. Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated once they made the left hand turn he was unable to maintain visual of the Blue BMW and advised dispatch that he would stand by at the Circle K Gas Station located at the corner of Dawnville Rd and Cleveland Hwy.

Deputy Ochoa and Deputy Spivey were also assisting in locating the offender vehicle and located the vehicle traveling south on Pleasant Grove Dr attempting to turn left onto South Brooker Dr. Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle baring the same registration plate Mr. [VICTIM #1] gave and it was missing its front bumper.

Deputy Vazquez arrived on scene shortly after and began to speak with the driver, Filemon Canales. Mr. Canales stated that he does not believe he struck anyone’s vehicle and that if he did he would have stopped. Deputy Vazquez asked Mr. Canales how he lost his front bumper, to which he stated he did not know but he did notice it was loose and it may have come off while he was driving today.

Deputy Vazquez while talking to Mr. Canales attempted to look for signs of impairment on Mr. Canales and notice that his eyes appeared to be red and glossed over. Deputy Vazquez continued to ask Mr. Canales questions about the incident that just occurred, to which he continued to stated he did not hit a vehicle and did not notice he was being chased, only that he noticed another car was, “On his a*s”.

Deputy Vazquez detained Mr. Canales and advised him that he was not under arrest at the moment and escorted him to the rear of his patrol vehicle. At that time Deputy Vazquez requested dispatch to contact the caller and come to the new location. Once the caller arrived Deputy Vazquez spoke with Mr. [VICTIM #1] and [WITNESS #1] who was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Mr. [VICTIM #1] and Mr. [WITNESS #1] stated the same story that was given to dispatch and stated that the accident occurred at Tibbs Bridge Rd and Cedar Ridge Rd. Mr. [VICTIM #1] stated that he was making a left hand turn onto Cedar Ridge Rd when Mr. Canales stuck his driver side rear bumper and then fled the scene of the accident. Deputy Vazquez was able to confirm the damage to Mr. [VICTIM #1] silver in color, Nissan Altima (Georgia tag [REDACTED]). A large dent was located in the driver side rear bumper along with blue paint transfer that matched Mr. Canales’s vehicle.

A Witness arrived on scene and stated his name was [WITNESS #2] and that he had video of the incident. Mr. [WITNESS #2] showed his dash cam video of him attempting to make a left hand turn onto Dawnville Rd from Lower Dawnville. In the video you can see Mr. Canales enter the screen from the oncoming lane of traffic at ha high rate of speed, cut of Mr. [WITNESS #2] and continue into his lane of travel. Moments later Mr. Canales is observed crossing the double yellow lines on the road that indicate no passing and pull into on coming traffic and pass four vehicles on a single lane road.

A video of the video was collected as evidence and uploaded into Evidence.Com. Deputy Vazquez returned to his patrol vehicle and advised Mr. Canales of his rights and he stated he still wished to speak with him. Mr. Canales was advised of the video and continued to state he was unaware of the incident that just transpired. Deputy Vazquez advised Mr. Canales that he was being place under arrest and that his vehicle would be towed.

During this time Lieutenant Rann and Deputy Weaver arrived on scene and assisted Deputy Spivey and Deputy Ochoa with inventorying Mr. Canales’s vehicle. During the inventory a THC Vape Pen was located in plane view. Deputies conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle and located a glass smoking device used to smoke wax THC (commonly known as a dab), a circular glass container filled with what appeared to be THC wax, instruments used to load the wax into the smoking device and an open alcoholic beatbox beverage that contains 11.1% alcohol in the back-seat passenger side floor board. The Beatbox was almost empty and cold to the touch.

Deputy Vazquez advised the on-call Narcotics Detective of the incident and he advised he would come to the scene and speak with Mr. Canales. Deputy Vazquez spoke with Mr. Canales again and asked if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to which he stated no. Deputy Vazquez asked Mr. Canales if he would consent to do standardized field sobriety test, to which he refused.

Detective Kirby arrived on scene and spoke with Mr. Canales. All evidence was turned over to Detective Kirby pending additional charges. Once Deputy Kirby completed his interview Deputy Vazquez was able to smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Mr. Canales now that he was sitting in the back seat of his patrol vehicle. Deputy Vazquez advised Mr. Canales that was also being charged with DUI less safe Alcohol and Drug and read him implied consent. Mr. Canales stated he would provide a blood sample.

Mr. Canales’s vehicle was turned over to Franks Towing and Mr. Canales was transported to the Whitfield County Detention Center. Sergeant Curtis at the Detention Facility administered the blood draw on Mr. Canales and he was turned over to the booking staff without incident.

Deputy Vazquez issued Mr. Canales citations for O.C.G.A. 40-6-391 Driving Under the Influence (A)(4) (Citation #WC503808), O.C.G.A. 40-6-390 Reckless Driving (Citation #WC503809), O.C.G.A. 40-6-253 Open Container (Citation #WC503810), O.C.G.A. 40-6-270 Hit and Run (Citation #WC503811), O.C.G.A. 40-6-397 Aggressive Driving (Citation #WC503812), O.C.G.A. 40-6-123 improper lane change (Citation #WC503813) and O.C.G.A. 40-6-48 Failure to Maintain Lane (Citation #WC503814).

The Blood Draw kit was submitted into evidence along with a completed DOFS form. Mr. Canales’s drivers license was attached to the court copy of his citations pending the results of the blood chemical testing.

[End of Narrative]