Update:
Sheriff Stacy Williams provided some additional information about the morning arrest of a Tennessee woman who got her vehicle stuck on a backroad in Haralson County.
He reported that Vanessa Ann Vercruysse, 47, of a Jefferson City, Tennessee, address, was found with “a good quantity of marijuana” during her arrest on June 9 after deputies responded to an Old Pleasant Hill Road address following a trespassing and theft complaint.
Additionally, dogs she was transporting to Florida was taken by Haralson County Animal Control for safekeeping.
Vercruysse is alleged to have been found with drugs and separated from her two grandchildren after getting her SUV stuck in the area around Old Pleasant Hill Road, then took and wrecked a side-by-side ATV during the incident.
She remained in jail as of Wednesday evening.
See below for more details from the original posting made earlier this evening on the incident.
Previously posted:
A Facebook posting from the Haralson County Sheriffs Office reported that a woman who was driving on her way to Florida from Tennessee got stuck on backroads, wandered off from her two grandchildren, and ultimately ended up under arrest on drug and theft charges.
According to the posting, the HCSO responded around 8:30 a.m. this morning to the area of Old Pleasant Hill Road on a trespassing report, and that a side-by-side vehicle was stolen from the property.
The update stated that once on the scene and investigating, a juvenile showed up at the house where the ATV was taken and told deputies that “he did not know where his younger brother and grandmother were.”
The ATV at this time was located by a neighbor, and the juvenile’s younger brother found his way to a home on Highway 100 several miles away and knocked on a door.
“The grandmother was later located in the woods by deputies,” the posting stated.
The woman was identified as Vanessa Ann Vercruysse, 47, of a Jefferson City, Tennessee, address. The Facebook update explained that Vercruysse was on the way to Florida to deliver a dog and somehow ended up on a backroad in Haralson County.
“She drove off of the roadway, through a yard and got her vehicle stuck down in the woods,” the posting reported.
After getting stuck, she got the children out of the vehicle, took the ATV and wrecked it, then “separated the kids and left them out in the rain alone.”
Per the Haralson County Sheriffs Office, Vercruysse was arrested on charges of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree (two counts), Theft by Taking, Drug Possession, Criminal Damage to Property (Second Degree) and Criminal Trespass.
“This is a case where a person not only endangered the life of children, but stole and damaged property in our county. She must face the appropriate charges for her very serious crimes,” Sheriff Stacy Williams said in the update.
Per the HCSO, Vercruysse remained in jail without bond set on the six felony and two misdemeanor charges.
The update did not indicate what kind of drugs were in the vehicle, or what happened to the dog that was being delivered to Florida.
