Columbus police make four arrests during increased patrols in Winston Road area

Columbus police more heavily patrolling the Winston Road area after recent shootings there arrested four people on drug-related charges Sunday after finding heroin in a car whose occupants behaved suspiciously, officers testified Monday in Recorder’s Court.

Cpl. Nathan Tooley said police patrol officers were saturating the area off Benning Drive north of Victory Drive because of the “constant” criminal activity there, including illegal drug sales, prostitution and multiple assaults.

He and another officer were patrolling there around 9:30 a.m. Sunday when they saw a 2014 Toyota Tundra abruptly pull into a driveway when the driver noticed their marked police car. A woman got out of the Tundra and approached the residence as if she was going inside, but instead she watched as the patrol car passed, and then walked on down the street, he said.

The officers made a U-turn to get behind the Tundra as it drove on, and then pulled it over.

They noted the Tundra’s owner and driver, Martin White of Prattville, Ala., and front-seat passenger Elizabeth Lane appeared nervous when questioned, and they learned backseat passenger David Morris was wanted on a warrant in Harris County, Tooley said, so Morris was arrested.

The other backseat passenger, Angela Mims, was “clearly upset” and told police she only was staying with Lane and White to escape domestic violence, Tooley said.

When White gave police permission to search the vehicle, Lane volunteered that a green bag under the front passenger’s seat belonged to the woman White had dropped off earlier, Tooley said.

The bag, which Tooley described as similar to a woman’s makeup kit, contained six hypodermic needles – one partially loaded with a drug – two spoons with drug residue, a digital scale, and four clear plastic bags, one of which had what appeared to be .2 grams of “black tar” heroin worth about $20, the officer said.

The needles were in what appeared to be a silver watch case, he said.

In Lane’s purse, police found a second digital scale and a white pill identified as the prescription drug Xanax, he said.

In the center console, officers found apparent Bank of America checks that lacked any water mark and appeared to have been photocopied with the amounts altered, he said.

Police charged White, 51, with fourth-degree forgery, misdemeanor marijuana possession and three counts of having drug-related objects.

They charged Lane, 25, with selling or manufacturing a controlled substance, possessing a controlled substance, fourth-degree forgery, misdemeanor marijuana possession, and three counts of having drug-related objects.

They charged Mims, 44, with selling or manufacturing a controlled substance, misdemeanor marijuana possession, and having a drug-related object.

Morris, 46, was charged with selling or manufacturing a controlled substance, misdemeanor marijuana possession, and three counts of having drug-related objects. Morris’ preliminary hearing was postponed until 9 a.m. Aug. 6 so he can hire an attorney.

Recorder’s Court Judge Julius Hunter sent the other cases to Muscogee Superior Court.

Unrelated crimes

The Winston Road neighborhood has been the scene of multiple shootings and other offenses.

“It is not just on Winston Road, it’s on the back roads all around there,” the Rev. Willie Phillips, a community activist, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “Gang members are everywhere. The gang members in that area are dealing drugs and fighting for territory.”

The most recent homicide victim there was Emanul Banks, 18, shot multiple times July 19 in front of 1010 Winston Road. Banks was to appear in Muscogee County Superior Court the next day to be arraigned on charges related to the June 2017 theft of five vehicles from Enterprise Rent-A-Car on South Lumpkin Road.

Banks was shot near where Darrell Boggans, 43, was gunned down April 28 on Winston Road.

Boggans was among three people shot early Easter morning at Night Life club, an unlicensed business at 480 Andrews Road. Alec Spencer, 24, was killed in that shooting.

On Nov. 16, Steve Phillips, 30, was found shot to death in a wooded area on Winston Road. He was a key witness in the murder trial of Kevin Babe Henderson, a gang member convicted in the Nov. 12, 2014, execution-style killing of Chad Herring.

This story was originally published July 30, 2018 at 4:41 PM.