May 12, 2022–10:41 a.m.
FLOYD COUNTY JAIL RECORDS
A third arrest has been made in connection with what police say was a staged wreck that occurred on Maple Avenue and East 14th Street back on September 19 of last year.
According to Floyd County Jail records, the wreck was set up to occur between the U-Haul, driven by 61-year-old John L Durant Watkins of Atlanta, and a Chevy Cruze driven by 61-year-old Marshall Joseph Alexandria Jr. of Rome.
The U-Haul then took out a power pole, knocking out electricity in the area.
Alexandria and a passenger in the Cruse, 35-year-old Marilyn Nicole Odessa White of Rome, both claimed injuries in the wreck.
Statements were also made at the scene that someone other than Watkins was driving the U-Haul.
Watkins is charged with insurance fraud, false statements and writings, reckless conduct, false report of a crime, and 1st-degree criminal damage to property.
Watkins is also charged with theft by taking, criminal trespass, and giving a false name to law enforcement in a separate incident.
He is accused of taking a lawnmower from a shed, along with a full two-gallon gas can from a location on Lombardy Way on Wednesday of this week.
Police stopped Watkins as he was pushing the mower along Maple Street.