Suicide Threat Investigation Leads to Arrests on Drug, Forgery Charges

An attempt to locate a man who had threatened to commit suicide instead led an officer to two individuals who were subsequently arrested on unrelated charges.

On Jan. 27, officers were dispatched to 1700 Winder Highway after a woman called to report that an acquaintance was in the parking lot of the shopping center and had threatened to kill himself.

An officer found Ernesto Galvez, 30, of Lawrenceville, sitting in a parked car. The checked Galvez’s identification and determined he was not the suicidal person police were seeking. However, the officer did notice a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and asked Galvez where the marijuana was. Galvez reportedly replied, “What marijuana?”

“I then noticed a small black piece of plastic on the floorboard next to the passenger seat of the vehicle,” the officer wrote in the report. “It appeared to be wrapped around something and tied off.”

When the officer asked Galvez if the plastic contained marijuana, Galvez allegedly admitted that it did.

The officer placed Galvez under arrest and read him his Miranda rights. Upon questioning, Galvez denied selling marijuana, but did admit buying some.

“I asked why he had a larger portion in plastic and then a small amount in another piece,” the officer wrote. “He told me he had decided to buy more after the initial purchase. I asked why and he said because he had been given such a good deal.”

While the officer was dealing with Galvez, a man, later identified as Gerardo Porcoyo-Lopez, 22, of Dacula, approached to inform the officer that he had just called Galvez’s sister so that she could come retrieve the vehicle in which Galvez had been sitting.

Upon being asked for his identification, Porcoyo-Lopez presented a Mexican identification card. A check of his information in the state criminal database showed he had been previously identified as a dangerous gang member.

During a consent search of Porcoyo-Lopez, the officer found what appeared to be a fake Social Security card. When asked about the card, Porcoyo-Lopez admitted it was fake and said he just had it for “stupid stuff.”

At that point, the officer also placed Porcoyo-Lopez under arrest and transported him and Galvez to the Gwinnett County Jail.

Galvez was booked into the jail on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Porcoyo-Lopez was booked on a charge of second-degree forgery. Both were released the following day, each on a $5,700 bond.

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