Public Safety

A man and a juvenile boy face theft by taking charges after they allegedly loaded an electric grocery shopping cart into their truck and drove away.

The mistake they made, according to the Commerce Police Department, was stealing it from a store across the street from where they lived. [Full Story »] 

The Commerce Police Department has issued arrest warrants for a 42-year-old Commerce man who allegedly emptied a canister of pepper spray into the face of an officer the night of Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Brantley Kip Cowart, 196 Leachman Road, fled the area, but in a tussle with an officer — in which the officer also dropped his firearm — Cowart left behind his wallet, which contained his identification.

Cowart faces charges of felony obstruction, obstruction, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer and battery on a police officer. As of Tuesday morning, he remained at large.
The event began with a traffic stop at 10:48 p.m. on Baugh Street. An officer pulled over a vehicle driven by Michael Troy Wilburn, 39, 265 Gordon Road, Commerce, for a tag light violation and failure to maintain a lane. [Full Story »] 

The Georgia Department of Transportation was due to complete the installation of a new traffic signal at State Route 98 (Maysville Road) and B. Wilson Road on Tuesday. The light is the final phase of a project that provided a westbound left-turn lane for the Quality Foods Shopping Center and left-turn lanes for B. Wilson Road and King Road. The intersection between SR 98, B. Wilson Road and King Road was also realigned during the project.