'It's Not Me Man!': Arrestee Proclaims Innocence As Officer Approaches Vehicle

A police response to what was originally believed to be a medical emergency at Little Mulberry Park turned out to be a criminal violation instead.

On Jan. 20, a passerby called 911 after seeing a man, later identified as Billy Standridge, 41, of Dacula, sitting in a black Chevrolet Trailblazer and having what appeared to be a seizure. When the officer arrived, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services personnel were already at the scene. As the officer approached the vehicle, Standridge reportedly threw his hands up and said, “It’s not me man!”

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The officer asked Standridge if everything was okay. Standridge explained that someone had called police and said he was having a seizure.

“As I talked to the suspect, I noticed his pupils were very constricted,” the officer wrote in the report. “The suspect had multiple sores on his face that looked like they had been picked at. The suspect could not sit still. He kept reaching around and was talking very fast.”

The officer asked Standridge to remain still and not reach for anything. Standridge failed to comply, so the officer had Standridge step out of the vehicle. Upon questioning, Standridge denied having anything illegal in the vehicle and gave the officer permission to search it.

During the search, the officer found a small jet torch, a pipe consistent with the type typically used to smoke methamphetamine and a small baggie containing a white powdery substance that later field tested positive for methamphetamine.

“At that point, I told Standridge he was under arrest,” the report stated. “I told Standridge to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Standridge turned around, but did not put his hands behind his back. I grabbed Standridge’s right wrist and began to put the handcuffs on him. As soon as the handcuffs made contact with Standridge’s wrist, he threw his right arm back and shoved me away from him.”

The officer then dropped the handcuffs and drew a taser. Standridge still failed to comply with the officer’s instructions. While Standridge was resisting and trying to pull away, another officer “leg swept” Standridge and, according to the report, the two officers “took him down to his knees in the grass where he could be safely handcuffed.”

After Standridge was secured in the patrol car, the officer finished searching the vehicle and found a bottle of hydrocodone that had been filled one week prior. The bottle was supposed to have contained 98 pills prescribed to be used at the rate of one per day. Only six were found in the vehicle.

Standridge was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on charges of obstruction, possession of a drug related object and possession of a controlled substance. As of Jan. 25, he remained jailed without bond.

Other recent incidents investigated by the Gwinnett County Police Department include:  

Jan. 22

• Identity fraud in the 1400 block of Fairdale Court.

Jan. 19

• Theft by taking in the 1700 block of Laurel Song Trail.
• Battery in the 2400 block of Millwater Crossing.

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