Multiple fugitives arrested on drug charges

CLAYTON — On Friday, three individuals avoiding arrests from outstanding warrants were apprehended for being in possession of meth, amongst a slew of other charges.

The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office received a call from dispatch around 4 p.m. notifying them a BOLO had been placed on a white truck traveling down Germany Mountain Road after gunshots had been allegedly fired at the vehicle.

The responding sheriff’s deputy made a traffic arrest on the vehicle whose appearance matched with dispatch’s description near Bradford Road. Upon approaching the truck, law enforcement noticed two males and a female whose body and lips were trembling.

The officer identified the driver as Jonathon Alton Purcell, of Toccoa, who told law enforcement no shots were heard by neither him or the other two passengers. The front-seat passenger, who authorities observed to be acting suspicious, was later identified as John Clark, of Clarkesville, after initially telling the deputy his name was Christopher Burnette.

After authorities learned Clark, 47, had outstanding arrest warrants from Banks County, the female in the backseat was caught with her hands down her pants.

After deputies removed her from the vehicle and searched her for weapons, she was identified as Sharon Lynn Hiott, of Huger, South Carolina, who also had outstanding warrants issued for her arrest.

While searching Clark, two knives and a loaded syringe were found in the front of his pockets, two more were located in the rear. A search was also conducted on the truck where deputies found a wrapper with a clear, white substance suspected to be methamphetamine under the seat where Hiott, 37, had been sitting.

Several “torch-style” lighters were found in the console of the vehicle along with multiple metal spoons with residue, digital scales, a Pepsi can with burns and white residue on the bottom, four prescription bottles with pills in them (one with a dark brown liquid suspected to be heroin) and three syringes loaded with the brown liquid.

Hiott admitted it all belonged to her and told law enforcement she was hiding a bag of meth “inside her.”

All three individuals were transported to the Rabun County Detention Center.

Purcell, 32, was charged with Knowingly Driving Motor Vehicle on Suspended Registration.

Both Hiott and Clark, were charged with Possession and Use of Drug Related Objects. Clark was additionally charged with one count of Giving False Name.