Tennessee man arrested again for DUI after speeding on Walnut Ave in Dalton

According to a Dalton Police Department incident report, On September 15th, 2023, at 3:30 AM, Officer Morang was stationary on the sidewalk on W Walnut Ave in between W Morton Dr and W Lakeshore Dr. when he observed a vehicle speeding at 60 mph in a posted 40 mph zone. Officer Morang reported, “As [I] did [I] noticed, the vehicle really didn’t slow down like most people do when they are speeding and see a police officer coming to pull them over. [I] conducted a traffic stop on this vehicle, a 2023 Nissan Sentra bearing a Kentucky tag, on W Walnut Ave near Brown Street. After [I] activated my emergency blue lights, [I] noticed the driver sticking his hands out of the driver’s window while still coming to a stop. [I] then approached the vehicle to make contact with the driver. As [I] was doing this, the driver stuck his hands out the window and then his head out of the window. In my experience, this is not normal behavior. [I] introduced myself to the driver and advised him of the reason for the stop. [I] asked him if there was any reason he was traveling 20 miles an hour over the posted speed limit. The driver, Jermal Jones, 33, of Tennessee, told me that he was just trying to get to his girlfriend’s house. He also stated that this was a rental car and he was coming from Chattanooga, TN. [I] asked Jermal for his driver’s license, and he began frantically patting his jacket and pants pockets and then putting his hands up. He did this over and over before he began to search his center console for his wallet. When Jermal did this, he appeared to be trying really hard to use his body to hide what he was doing in the center console. Officer Morang eventually learned that Jermal’s license was revoked through the state of Tennessee for previous DUIs. Officer Morang also smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. Due to Jermal’s odd and erratic behavior, field sobriety tests were not conducted. Jermal was placed under arrest for DUI and agreed to the state test. Jermal was booked into the Whitfield County Jail, where he showed a BAC of .130 on the state test. Jermal was charged with DUI, speeding, and driving while license is revoked.