By Joe Johnson
The manager of a motel in west Athens Friday morning reported a suspicious car in the parking lot and an investigation resulted in the arrest of an occupant of the vehicle on felony drug charges, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.
The manager of Howard Johnson Inn on West Broad Street called police at about 3:30 a.m. to report an occupied car had been parked outside for about 20 minutes, and upon the arrival of police officers the lone occupant, identified in the report as 39-year-old Taniqua Raynell Hardy of Winterville, told the officers she had just returned from dropping off a friend.
While speaking to Hardy, the report notes, an officer saw unspecified drug paraphernalia on the driver’s seat, at which time the woman was detained and a search of the car found a bag containing less than a gram of heroin, and three bags of methamphetamine with a total weight of 8.4 grams, according to the police report.
Hardy reportedly explained that her friend dropped the drugs into her purse.
Hardy was booked into the county jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of heroin, and possession of drug-related objects.
As of Saturday afternoon, she remained jailed in lieu of a $50 bond.
Unfortunately, while in jail she will not get treatment for her drug addiction (assuming she is addicted) unless she was already receiving treatment with medication prior to her arrest. She will be forced to go without drugs “cold turkey” & unless the judge amends the bond order, when she makes bail, she will return to her habit. Sadly, statistics show that most addicts released from jail/prison will end up ODing within a week of their arrest because their bodies are no longer capable of tolerating the level of drug use as prior to the incarceration. Even more disturbing, about 25% or more will die within a week of release.
The best possible thing the judge could have done for this woman is keep her in jail until she's past the withdrawal stage and then give her the option of entering an inpatient rehab facility before trial/sentencing.
Giving her a $50 bond is wasting an opportunity to save a life. Shameful.
anybody seen a follow up on this story from a year ago? https://www.classiccitynews.com/post/prosecutorial-misconduct-leads-to-mistrial-in-oconee-co-rape-case
$50 bond? Is that all? I would think those bonds are higher for drug possessions.