THE BLOTTER: Don’t gimme that bullshit

Rapper Rick Ross got a stern message from his neighbor — for allowing his pet buffalo (that’s plural) to roam off “The Promise Land,” his massive 350-acre ATL ranch in Fayetteville.
“Control your buffalo, control your bull,” the female neighbor told WSB-Atlanta. She says two of the rapper’s pet bisons wandered onto her property twice in the same week — and now her children are afraid to go outside. She called local authorities, who told her this was a civil dispute.
Rapper Ross responded on Instagram: “For everybody that’s wanting a statement and a response (about) my bulls, my cows, a couple of buffalos that got away in the community, this is my response: I always return stray animals,” he said, urging people t to keep their pets collared. “Mine don’t have a collar because you know it’s mine,” he said. “When you see my buffalo, give it a carrot. Give it an apple. They’re so kind and so peaceful.”
Well, that depends on who you ask, Mr. Ross.

Excuse me, what?

A 24-year-old driver had a bizarre excuse for why he was going double the speed limit in Gwinnett County.
Police say they caught the male driver in his white BMW going 90 miles per hour on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Duluth. The speed limit for that stretch of road is 45 miles per hour. The cop asked the 24-year-old man: Why are you driving so fast?
The driver claimed he was not speeding at all — instead he told cops he was “accelerating quickly” in order to try to get his car to pass emissions tests. He said he was driving fast to make sure the BMW’s “check engine light” did not come on.
Ummm, what? Yeah, right. Nope, cops weren’t buying his excuse at all. The 24-year-old man was charge with reckless driving. According to Fox5Atlanta, The Duluth Police Department called the man’s emissions excuse as “what not to do.”

Boxers or briefs?

A 19-year-old man in a stolen Mercedes Benz SUV is accused of leading Atlanta cops on a long and winding high-speed chase — and sideswiping at least five other cars.
Cops from the Georgia State Patrol first spotted the reportedly stolen Mercedes Benz around 6p.m. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in downtown Atlanta. “Officers chased the vehicle onto Interstate 20 before the driver turned off the interstate onto McDaniel Street and then eventually onto Metropolitan Parkway,” Fox5Atlanta reported.
Cops said the 19-year-old driver tried to pass one car — and wound up hitting it. Then, the 19-year-old allegedly sideswiped at least five other cars before finally stopping. Then, the 19-year-old driver and a female passenger allegedly hopped out of the stolen SUV and tried to escape on foot. A short time later, the 19-year-old male driver was found wandering around a neighborhood in his underwear. Cops took the 19-year-old in his undies to Grady Memorial Hospital and then to jail.
The 19-year-old in his undies — now faces charges of theft, felony fleeing, reckless driving, and hit-and-run — among others.

Danger drug

Georgia health officials are warning about a new “zombie drug” that’s triggering a significant uptick in metro ATL overdose deaths. The “zombie drug” can cause a person’s skin to rot to the bone. Lovely.
The drug — an animal tranquilizer called xylazine — goes by the street names “tranq” or “tranq dope” or “zombie drug.” Xylazine can be used by drug dealers to bulk up fentanyl. (A practice which begs even more questions!)
Even worse, an overdose on xylazine can mimic an opioid overdose. But forget about administering Narcan to reverse the overdose. Drugs like Narcan won’t help at all — since xylazine is not an opioid.
The drug can cause skin and body sores that lead to amputation. “Repeated injection of xylazine is also associated with severe, necrotic skin ulcerations,” health officials told WSB-TV Atlanta. “Persons who use drugs may not be aware of the presence of xylazine in their drug supply, so it is critical for them to understand these risks and remain vigilant.”

Out of the mouths of babes…

Two Georgia brothers are on the hook for allegedly stealing massive quantities of baby formula. Cops in Cartersville caught the brothers walking out of a Publix grocery store with backpacks filled with powdered formula. Officers searched the brothers’ car — a Chevy Tahoe — and found more than $26,000 worth of baby formula. (That’s 662 cans.) Authorities believe the two brothers may be linked to a big string of baby formula thefts from Publix, Kroger and Walmart stores across Georgia and Tennessee.
Many new parents have been scrambling to buy baby formula for more than a year after the FDA temporarily closed down a large baby formula factory due to bacterial contamination and recalls.
So what did the two Georgia brothers plan on doing with $26,000+ worth of baby formula? Well, apparently the two brothers weren’t dumb enough to tell cops of their intentions. Cartersville Police Lieutenant Greg Sparacio told local media outlets: “I’d like to hope they were taking the baby formula just to go out and give to the needy, but I don’t think that’s the case.”

They fought the law … and the law won

Some metro Atlanta drivers are pulling illegal U-turns right in front of police, at an infamous Sandy Springs intersection. Those idiot drivers are getting ticketed left and right.
The Sandy Springs Police Department said the constant U-turns have become a problem since construction on I-285 closed a turning lane at the intersection of Glenridge Drive and Glenforest Road. Officers have written more than three hundred-plus tickets for illegal U-turns there in three weeks — an astonishing number. On a recent Wednesday, cops issued five tickets to five different drivers pulling illegal U-turns in front of officers — within one hour.
It’s not like there are no sign letting people know they are breaking the law by making U-turns at Glenridge Drive/Glenforest Road. Get this: There are four different signs at the intersection, warning ATL drivers that U-turns there are obviously illegal. Apparently, some drivers just don’t care. A Sandy Springs neighbor said: “They see police, and they still are making U-turns as if copsare not paying attention.”
So heads up, Atlanta drivers. Sandy Springs cops will be patrolling this intersection a lot in the coming months. Don’t be stupid. —CL—

The Blotter Diva compiles reports from the Atlanta Police Department and local news reports — and puts them into her own words.