A man who was visiting the DeKalb County Jail ended up booked into the facility Friday afternoon after he attempted to provide contraband to inmates, including a box cutter, authorities said.
Michael Anthony Dixon, 45, of Powder Springs, was arrested while still on jail grounds, the DeKalb sheriff’s office said in a news release. He was detained by a deputy outside the jail on Memorial Drive while leaving the guard line area near the lobby with the box cutter, according to spokesperson Cynthia Williams.
A search of the area revealed a white bag hidden in a nearby bush, authorities said. It contained contraband items that authorities believe were “destined to be hoisted up into an inmate cell through a broken window,” the release said. The bag allegedly included cocaine, marijuana, loose tobacco, packs of cigarettes and lighters, cellphones and chargers, jewelry, ear pods, hex keys and glue gel.
The bag also included sweets and cooked chicken wings, Williams said.
Dixon was charged with crossing a guard line with weapons, intoxicants or drugs without consent, a felony, plus possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine and criminal trespass.
“Our ‘Eyes in the Sky’ operation continues to be effective this year, as we foil attempts by inmates and their co-conspirators on the outside to get illegal and potentially dangerous items inside the jail,” Chief Deputy Randy Akies said in the statement. “The safety of the intended recipients and others in our custody and on our staff is threatened by this practice, and Sheriff (Melody) Maddox has made it clear that it will not be tolerated.”
Attempted contraband drops have become common at the DeKalb jail.
In late October, a College Park man allegedly used a fishing line and plastic bag to send several items up the outside walls of the jail and into an inmate’s cell, authorities said at the time. The items David Askew, 59, was accused of trying to sneak into the facility included a green leafy substance, a crystal rock-like substance, cigarette packs and papers, cellphones and chargers, sewing kits, razor blades, super glue, socks and belly rings.
In early September, a Smyrna woman was arrested after she was caught allegedly sneaking tobacco into the facility. Authorities said Cara Leanne Johnson drove to the back of the jail and parked in a spot designated for the sheriff’s office’s fugitive unit before a deputy patrolling the area spotted her. In the 34-year-old’s hand was a black bag, which the sheriff’s office said contained tobacco, two packs of rolling paper and a lighter. A rope dangled out of a broken cell window several stories above the ground nearby, authorities said.
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