Metro police called in the Savannah Fire and Emergency Services Hazmat team May 21 after a Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team found an unknown liquid during an investigation. Police were conducting a search warrant at a boarding house at 819 E. 37th St. when the liquid was spilled and started smoking.
Worried that the liquid was dangerous, officers and sheriff’s deputies evacuated the house and called for assistance. Hazmat firefighters were able to contain and test the liquid, which was tentatively identified as muriatic acid.
That is an extremely dangerous liquid acid that can emit suffocating vapors. Firefighters removed the substance from the boarding house and cleaned the area exposed to the acid.
The acid apparently was being used as a "booby trap" to either destroy evidence or hurt investigators who entered the house. Two people were arrested after officers found crack cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy, ammunition and cash in a second-floor room.
Firefighters had to dismantle part of a car that was stuck in a sinkhole to rescue two people trapped inside. The iincident occurred just betore 2 p.m. on May 22 in the 1100 block of East 51st Street just east of Waters Avenue when the driver drove into the sinkhole.
After assessing the situation, the firefighters stabilized the white Buick Skylark and removed the passenger. He was not injured.
The Jaws of Life were used to remove the driver's side door to get to the driver, who was complaining of pain. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Savannah-Chatham Metro Police were called to Vaden Nissan on May 18 after 13 cars were stolen from the Abercorn Street dealership.
The theft occurred some time between late Saturday through early Monday. Police believe a suspect or suspects entered the building after closing hours and located an unsecured box containing a large numbers of vehicle keys.
Police were notified of the thefts when employees arrived for work and found the cars missing. At first, 10 cars and pickup trucks were reported missing, but by the end of the day, employees told police a total of 13 vehicles were stolen after they completed an inventory.
Within a day, police had recovered two cars and a truck in the Savannah-Chatham area. Shortly after 11 a.m. on May 19, APO Darren Mitchell of the Precinct One Patrol Division spotted a 2006 Nissan Maxima leaving the Brandlewood Subdivision.
Mitchell followed the car and found it was one of the vehicles stolen from the Vaden Nissan dealership. He attempted to stop the car on Interstate 516, but the driver refused to stop.
Police chased the vehicle to an alley behind a business near the intersection of DeRenne Avenue and Montgomery Street, where the suspect stopped the car. Three men fled from the car on foot, so a perimeter was established and Orlando Marcus Williams, 18, of Savannah, was captured.
Police located two additional stolen cars later that night. All vehicles recovered so far have been found in good condition with nothing missing.
Williams was charged with theft by receiving stolen property and obstruction by fleeing and taken to jail. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 351-3403 or Crime Stoppers at 234-2020; or text CRIMES (274637) and in the body, type "CStop2020" plus the tip. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash award.
Police were called to an East Gwinnett Street residence for a possible domestic dispute. A woman at the scene said her friend had spent the night at her house, and when she woke up, she saw that her keys weren’t in their usual spot.
The woman asked the man about the keys. He denied having them at first, then admitted he took them, although he said he "didn’t mean to."
When she learned the man had lied, the woman asked him to leave the premises. The man refused to go, and pushed the woman and grabbed at her clothing.
The two began to struggle in earnest and fell, with the man landing on top of the woman. He held her down and punched her in the head.
The woman’s five children were present and witnessed the fight. When the man hit their mother, some of them began hitting the man with a house plant they pulled out of a vase.
A friend who was visiting the woman tried to pull the man off her. She told one of the children to get the phone and call 911. The man fled the scene, leaving his pants behind.
An officer observed a van pull into a construction area at Terrell Mill Road and Live Oak Way. The van stopped in front of a lot where there was a blue container and a red container, each about 30 feet long.
A man and woman got out and began loading equipment into the van. The officer stopped and asked them if the equipment was theirs.
The man told him he was working on a house around the corner. The officer asked him for his driver’s license, and the man said he didn’t have one. He was arrested for driving unlicensed.
