Bainbridge Public Safety arrested five people Tuesday in connection with the theft of scrap metal from CSX Railroad, Investigator Ryan Deen said.

According to Investigator Deen, BPS received an anoymous complaint that several persons were acting suspiciously around a stopped CSX train. The train was located off Back Street, near its intersection with Vada Road, Deen said.

Five people — four men and one woman — were taken into custody for questioning. Deen said a CSX Railroad police officer visited Bainbridge to investigate. The five are accused of taking scrap metal off train cars and tampering with the railroad tracks, Deen said.

The suspects’ names were not available at press time because they were still being booked into the Decatur County Jail.

Deen said it’s not immediately known whether the five persons arrested Tuesday had any connection to a recent string of copper tubing thefts in Bainbridge. However, he said those cases are still actively being investigated.

Anyone with more information about thefts of copper tubing/wiring or other scrap metals is asked to call Investigator Deen at (229) 248-2044.

 

Two arrested in traffic stop

Two Bainbridge men were arrested Saturday night after a state trooper pulled their car over and saw marijuana in plain sight, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

State Trooper First Class Brian Palmer was patrolling in Bainbridge around 8 p.m. Saturday night when he saw a vehicle traveling west on Broughton Street on the wrong side of the road. Trooper Palmer followed the vehicle onto Sims Street and then onto Shotwell Street, where he attempted to pull it over. However, the driver kept going and didn’t stop until a couple of blocks later, at the intersection of Scott and Russ streets.

Palmer approached the car and while talking with its driver — Anthony Bernard Thompson, 30, of 918 Timberlane Road, Bainbridge — the state trooper noticed a bag of suspected marijuana lying in the lap of the front seat passenger, identified as 22-year-old Roderick Antwan Hamilton of 1736 Faceville Highway, Bainbridge.

Palmer asked both men to exit the car and during a search of the vehicle, found an additional bag of suspected marijuana and nine bags of suspected cocaine in the passenger’s side door compartment.

Both men were arrested and taken to BPS Headquarters for booking. They are charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana (less than an ounce). Thompson was also charged with driving on the wrong side of the road and for having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.