Officials are awaiting toxicology results in death of jail inmate Cracked windshield Woman arrested on leads to drug charges Alabama warrant

The body of a Floyd County Jail inmate who died shortly after his arrest is at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

Floyd County Coroner Gene Proctor said it could be several months before an autopsy reveals the exact cause of death for Michael Wayne Thacker, 27, of Rome.

“It went to toxicology, so it could be about three months. That’s not unusual,” Proctor said.

According to reports from the county sheriff’s office and police department, Thacker was arrested Feb. 18 at a church in Shannon where he was rambling about someone being after him.

He reportedly told members of the congregation that he was hiding from some close relations who had previously assaulted him.

He said he heard them talking about getting rid of him, so he hid in the attic, went down the inside of the wall and kicked out a hole to run to the church.

Thacker was arrested on a warrant for parole violation but, at the jail, soon began exhibiting signs of distress. He was taken to Floyd Medical Center but died in the emergency room.

The father of two, Thacker attended Model schools where he played football, baseball, basketball and wrestled.

He medaled in weightlifting in the Georgia Games. In his obituary, his family decried the “family chain breaker of life called addiction” and asked the community to support others’ loved ones who are struggling against it.

A Floyd County man was being held on felony drug charges after police stopped him Wednesday for driving a car with a cracked windshield.

According to Floyd County Jail records:

Randall Ellis Patterson, 41, of 378 Old Calhoun Road, was stopped on Riverbend Drive when police noticed a large crack running across his windshield. He had suspected Percocet pills in his pants pocket.

Patterson is charged with four counts of felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of pills not kept in the original container and windshield violation. He was being held without bond.

A Floyd County deputy arrested a Rome woman Tuesday who was wanted in Cherokee County, Alabama.

According to Floyd County Jail reports:

Martina Michelle Chambers, 33, of 1201 Martha Berry Highway, was arrested at her residence Tuesday afternoon after authorities got a warrant for her arrest on charges out of neighboring Alabama.

Chambers faces a felony fugitive from justice charge locally, along with the undisclosed Alabama charge, and is being held in the Floyd County Jail without bond. Doug Walker, associate editor