Columbus police took James Demont Douglas, 30, into custody late Wednesday night after an incident involving a single gunshot fired, but Douglas was released a short time later because of complications over where he would stay overnight.
Police responded to a shooting at the intersection of Main Street and Ninth Street South at around 11:15 p.m. and took Douglas into custody. According to police, the late-night incident started at the workplace when Douglas and Bernard Antonio Harris got into an argument that carried over to the Columbus streets.
Police said the two men were in their vehicles and stopped at the intersection when Douglas got out of his red 1993 Chevrolet Caprice, and Harris exited his white 2001 Ford F-150, and the two began a physical altercation in the street. Things escalated when Harris tried to run away and Douglas fired a single shot at Harris but missed.
Police said Wednesday morning that Douglas had been arrested and charged for the incident, but there was a hiccup earlier that morning.
Douglas was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle for injuries to his left eye and left ankle stemming from the incident, police said. He was treated and discharged.
But instead of being transported to jail, authorities released Douglas because there was not a proper holding cell at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center to accommodate his injuries.
Douglas “was not charged and arrested … as earlier indicated,” reads a statement released Thursday night by the Columbus Police Department.
According to the release, CPD Investigator Raymond Hackler “called and inquired to a Lowndes County Adult Detention (Center) jailer about what their policy was on booking and housing an injured person. The jailer advised the investigator an injured prisoner would have to be put in a cell by him or herself.”
At the time, the jail did not have a cell available for Douglas. There already was a juvenile and “several other injured prisoners,” all of whom had to be in private cells.
“Based upon that information attained from the LCADC jailer, the investigator took a statement from Douglas at the hospital and advised him charges are pending stemming from the incident,” the release continues.
Douglas was on crutches at the time, Hackler said.
“(Jail personnel) said on the phone, ‘We’re sorry. We can’t take him. We don’t have any room,'” Hackler said. “After I interviewed him, I released him and told him that charges were pending.”
Billy Pickens, Lowndes County jail administrator, confirmed the police asked for Douglas to be placed in a single cell with no other inmate, and one was not available at that time.
The CPD does not have a jail, so the city pays the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office to house its prisoners.
Hackler said the plan is to officially charge Douglas for the incident, and police have a warrant for his arrest.
“Because of the situation with the jail, he was released for the time being. That doesn’t mean we won’t go back and get him, because we are,” Hackler said. “We will be making arrangements to bring him in.”
Pending charges are three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
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