According to a Dalton Police Department incident report, On February 11th, 2023, at 3:45 AM, Officer Ellenburg was patrolling the area of Cappes Street when he observed a red Chevrolet Sonic slamming on the brakes very quickly to stop the vehicle at the stop sign. The officer then observed the vehicle make a right turn onto South Thornton Ave at the red light without coming to a complete stop. The vehicle then failed to maintain a single lane. Officer Ellenburg initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver Roberto Angel Morales, 22, of Dalton. Officer Ellenburg reported, “[I] then began conversing with the driver when I noticed an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. [I] then asked Roberto if he had smoked marijuana recently, and he confirmed that the last time he had smoked was a few hours prior. [I] then asked Roberto if he had any marijuana in the car, and he informed me that he did. [I] then asked him to step out of the vehicle, and [I] asked him where the marijuana was located. Roberto stated that the marijuana was in his backpack located in the passenger side seat. [I] then located a Gatorade bottle that had a liquid that had an odd smell. [I] asked Roberto what was in the bottle, and he stated that it was the alcoholic beverage “White claw”.” In the backpack, officers located a large amount of marijuana ready for distribution. During field sobriety tests, Roberto showed several signs of impairment. Roberto was placed under arrest for DUI and agreed to the state test. Roberto was transported to the Whitfield County Jail and charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession of drug-related objects, DUI drugs, open container of alcohol, failure to maintain lane, and traffic signal violation.
Dalton man found with a large amount of marijuana after failing to maintain lane while DUI
