Greene County deputies arrested an Atlanta man on multiple charges on Dec. 31 following reports of someone driving in the wrong direction on I-20.
Calvin Lazenby, 59, faces charges of DUI, driving while license suspended, failure to stop at or return to the scene of an accident, open container, theft by taking (motor vehicle), driving on the wrong side of the road, hit and run, driving on a suspended license, and open container.
According to reports, Deputy John Jackson was dispatched to the area near Milepost 141.5 after dispatch received multiple calls of a white Dodge pickup pulling a small trailer traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.
On his way to the call, Jackson learned, the Dodge struck a tractor-trailer. Jackson found a tractor-trailer stopped under the Chico Road overpass and made contact with the driver, who said the white pickup truck was coming toward him head-on.
The driver said he swerved to avoid a collision, but the truck sideswiped his vehicle on the driver’s side.
The tractor-trailer driver said he was focused on avoiding a crash and maintaining control of his vehicle that he did not see where the Dodge truck went.
Dispatch then advised Jackson that Taliaferro County deputies had located the white Dodge pickup truck at the Flying J Truck Stop in Siloam.
Jackson responded to the Flying J and found the truck sitting at the gas pumps.
He also found a small dual-axle trailer loaded with pine straw unhooked and left in the parking lot. The trailer had both driver-side wheels missing and one passenger-side wheel broken off.
According to Jackson’s account, a male later identified as Calvin Lazenby came out of the store.
Jackson asked Lazenby why he was driving the wrong way on the interstate, and he said a truck driver told him to go that way to get to Atlanta.
According to the report, Lazenby’s eyes were glassy and slightly bloodshot, and Jackson detected a strong odor of alcohol.
Lazenby agreed to perform standardized field sobriety tests but failed and was placed under arrest for DUI.
Jackson then transported Lazenby to Good Samaritan Hospital for a blood draw. While at the hospital awaiting the blood draw, Jackson asked Lazenby whether the truck's owner knew he had the vehicle.
Lazenby told him the owner did not. He said he had worked for the owner for two days without being paid and took the truck without the owner’s knowledge.
He said he took the truck while the owner and his children were asleep and planned to sleep in it.
He also said he intended to sell the blower in the back of the truck, the trailer, and the truck itself if someone offered money for it.
Lazenby was then transported to the Greene County Jail.
Jackson contacted the truck's owner, who said he would retrieve it.
Jackson also spoke to a deputy from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office regarding a stolen vehicle report on the truck.