A report of an armed, intoxicated man at a Johnson cell phone store led Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies to arrest a Gray man Thursday in a traffic stop with two young children in his vehicle.
Jason R. Marcum, 35, 110 Springview Drive, Gray, was caught speeding and swerving over the center line on Roscoe Fitz Road and Gray Station Roads, Sheriff Ed Graybeal said in a news release.
Deputies had been on the lookout for Marcum’s pickup after dispatchers provided a description from the incident at a Johnson City business, according to the release.
Court records said the dispatch alert was issued after Marcum had been at the AT&T Wireless store in Johnson City, where he became irate and threw his cell phone against a glass window. Sales representatives told 911 Marcum was intoxicated and had a handgun in his waistband.
During the traffic stop about 2:30 p.m., deputies smelled alcohol coming from Marcum, and the man admitted to being armed with a handgun. Marcum’s children, ages 2 and 4, were in the back seat of his pickup truck, the sheriff said.
Sheriff's investigators found a loaded 9 mm handgun and a holster in Marcum’s vehicle.
Having performed poorly on sobriety tests, Marcum was taken to Johnson City Medical Center for a blood alcohol test, the sheriff said. The blood test was mandatory because children under the age of 16 were in the vehicle, an investigator said in court records.
Marcum was charged with driving under the influence, possession of a handgun while under the influence, two counts of reckless endangerment and speeding.
He remained jailed on $22,000 bond after arraignment in Sessions Court Friday. A preliminary hearing was set for next Thursday.
masonjar writes:
January 11, 2013
1:21 PM
I am going to preach this till my last breath: Why doesn't our local leaders do something about reducing or eliminating DUI's? 12,000 people die every year in this country because of alcohol related traffic accidents. Hello! That is just as many as the amount that dies from being shot each year. Our stupid federal gov't wants to force gun control but yet will not even acknoledge that DUI's are killing just as many people. I say limit alcohol sales to each person, reduce the amount of beer cans per case, quit selling kegs, get way tuffer on the punishment for DUI's. Do something...anything. It kills me to know that this man in this article put two little children's lives in such great danger. I know he got caught and he will be punished, but how many more do the same thing that never get caught. How many innocent people are going to die this year because our leaders continue to do nothing? I challenger our local leaders to do something to reduce DUI's. To not do anything is an outrage.
elliemae59 writes:
January 11, 2013
2:21 PM
How many children will suffer in the mits of such handlers
plodder writes:
January 11, 2013
2:25 PM
They will not limit it because of the revenue involved. Booze is a money making proposition. Also where is the out rage of the 3500 babies killed each day by abortion?
SovereignAxe writes:
January 11, 2013
3:31 PM
Blaming alcohol for DUIs is like blaming guns and standard capacity magazines for school shootings.
nerdgirl81 writes:
January 11, 2013
4:33 PM
Erm..... where are the child abuse charges?? Poor kids :(
truthshallsetufree writes:
January 11, 2013
6:55 PM
@nerdgirl81 The two counts of reckless endangerment cover the fact that the kids were with him.
Remove Money from Politics writes:
January 11, 2013
8:05 PM
Well plodder, that's easy. A fetus is not the same thing as a baby. Babies are never killed by abortion.
As far as this case, the guy had a gun and he was drunk. That's already very illegal. So is drunken driving. They need to throw the book at him as an example.
truthful writes:
January 12, 2013
8:16 AM
masonjar you are right !
tennesseebob writes:
January 12, 2013
9:16 AM
Why was this crazy man allowed to carry a gun?
takeabreak writes:
January 12, 2013
11:35 AM
I wondered when someone was going to start with the gun issue. This article lacks journalism integrity, or they would have either a.) made mention of the fact whether or not he had a legal CC permit, or b.) made the gun a secondary issue to the fact that he was under the influence. Fact is, he didn't draw his weapon in the store, nor threaten anyone with it, so WHY is tennesseebob, would you make him out to be a "crazy man with a gun"? Yes, he was carrying, but the gun never came into play, other than it was on his person. People are so ready to jump on the "gun issue" bandwagon.
rockjock2000 writes:
January 12, 2013
12:24 PM
Masonjar....what would you have local leaders do? I don't think limiting sales (except where currently allowed at bars, restaurants,etc) would solve anything. We can't legislate against stupidity and people's irresponsibility. And the gov't already tried that once. Prohibition failed miserably.
winelover writes:
January 12, 2013
7:38 PM
He was charged with possessing a handgun while intoxicated, takeabreak. There's all the concern you need. You're interjecting your own pro-gun agenda into the "integrity" of the situation.
provided.