Jackson Jambalaya

This article is reprinted with permission of the Laurel Leader-Call.

The deputy who arrested Greg Burroughs for drunk driving with his 8-year-old daughter in the vehicle last summer did show up for court when he was supposed to, Sheriff Alex Hodge said.

Hodge cited records that then-Deputy Josh Welch, who is now a Laurel police officer, was in Jones County Justice Court, but it was Burroughs who was a no-show. That delayed the court hearing again, and then all five charges against Burroughs were inexplicably disposed of by Judge Howell Beech.

The sheriff’s call was in response to Saturday’s column by Leader-Call publisher Jim Cegielski, who questioned Welch’s absence in that case. Welch was leaving the JCSD and going to the LPD at the time, but even so, he went to court on his own time, Hodge said.

But when Burroughs didn’t go to court, the case was reset and it never was rescheduled.

According to court records obtained by the Leader-Call, the judgment was made on Jan. 12 and simply states: “Lack of prosecution on probable cause, not guilty per Judge Beech” for the DUI and child endangerment. On the charges of resisting arrest, disturbance of family and disorderly conduct, the judgment says, “Lack of prosecution, dism(issed) per Judge Beech.”

Welch was the deputy of record on the latter three charges and Deputy Brennon Chancellor, a DUI specialist who Hodge said also showed up for court, was the arresting officer on the DUI and child endangerment charges.

According to incident reports that were provided by the JCSD, Burroughs was arrested in July 2016 after Welch was dispatched to Northgate Apartments off University Avenue for a report of a disturbance.

Details of that arrest were reported in the LL-C in mid-June, two weeks after Burroughs was questioned in the shooting death of his then-girlfriend Katherine Sinclair, 23, of Pachuta. She was found with a single gunshot to the head in the garage of his home in Windermere, a gated community in Laurel. He reported that she shot herself, but the District Attorney’s Office and LPD are waiting on a state pathologist’s autopsy report to determine the cause of death.

Justice court cases are typically resolved in a matter of a few weeks. Burroughs’ case took more than six months after his attorney, Brad Thompson, twice asked for continuances. Welch was supposed to be in Florida for K9 officer training in January, which was listed on the court’s calendar, sources have said.

When contacted by phone Wednesday, Beech said he was out of town and couldn’t remember the details of why the cases weren’t prosecuted, but he said he would find out.

“I’ll get back with you the first of next week,” he said.

In the incident last July, Welch reported that Burroughs had “a very strong smell of an intoxicating beverage coming from his breath and person.” The deputy told Burroughs to place his hands on the patrol car while he questioned the girlfriend, whose name was not listed in the report but is known to be an employee of his family’s company. She said that Burroughs had accused her of cheating on him and that she just wanted to leave.

Meanwhile, Welch had to tell Burroughs to put his hands back on the car. When asked how he got to the apartments, Burroughs first said that a friend had dropped him off. Welch offered Burroughs a portable breath test, which he didn’t complete the first time and he refused to try again.

When Welch told him to put his hands behind his back, Burroughs raised his left hand, “attempting to make Welch let go of his arm,” according to the report. Welch then threatened to tase Burroughs, so he put his hands behind his back, “but gave Welch trouble while being handcuffed by grabbing his wrist with the other hand.”

After Burroughs was handcuffed, he asked what he was going to do with his daughter. That’s when Burroughs admitted to driving to the apartments, according to the report. Welch then transported Burroughs to his vehicle and found his 8-year-old daughter in the passenger’s seat asleep. “The door was unlocked and the vehicle was running in a high-crime area,” according to the report, and two beer bottles were in the center console.

Burroughs asked Welch to call the girl’s mother and two more deputies transported the youngster to meet her near the Forrest County line on Interstate 59.

Deputy Chancellor then came to the scene to investigate Burroughs for possible drunk driving. In his report, he wrote that Burroughs “appeared to be intoxicated” with “slurred speech, blood-shot eyes” and he admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages earlier. Burroughs refused to take a breath test, which is an automatic violation, according to state law.

Burroughs admitted to driving his Burroughs Diesel company car, a white Toyota, to the location, according to Chancellor’s report. He was charged with DUI (refusal to take test) and “given the separate charge of child endangerment due to the fact his 8-year-old daughter was in the vehicle while he was operating it under the influence.”

The girl’s mother has asked for full custody of their daughter, but Burroughs is allowed supervised visitation time with her, as long as his parents, Wayne and Susie Burroughs, are also with her. The custody case is being heard by special chancery judge Larry Buffington. Chancellor Frank McKenzie recused himself at the request of the girl’s mother’s attorney because of his close ties to the Burroughs family.

That case is set to be heard by Buffington in December.

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Laurel newspaper accuses Sandersons of retaliation