Chattooga County Sheriff Details Circumstances Surrounding DUI Arrest Following Two Crashes

CHATTOOGA COUNTY — Chattooga County Sheriff Mark A. Schrader has released a detailed statement addressing public concerns surrounding the arrest of Billy Joe Dooley, 59, following a traffic incident that resulted in serious injuries and multiple charges.

According to records from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office, Dooley was arrested on January 23, 2026, after a crash that caused serious injuries. He was booked into the Chattooga County Jail at approximately 10:09 p.m. after being arrested by the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) earlier that evening.

Jail records list the following charges against Dooley:

• DUI / Drugs / Less Safe

• Failure to Stop at a Stop Sign

• Reckless Driving

• Serious Injury by Vehicle

In response to questions from the public, Sheriff Schrader provided a chronological explanation of events leading up to the arrest. His statement to the media is below in full:

“I have been contacted by several people concerning a crash Friday evening that led to a person being arrested and charged with DUI. I decided that I would push this out so everyone would know what happened and how it happened.

First, a deputy was dispatched to Back Penn Road and Hwy 27 around 4:15 regarding an accident where one vehicle had struck another at the stop sign causing minor damage. They had pulled their vehicles over to the old “Traci’s tanning” lot and that’s where the deputy met with them. During that investigation Deputy Mollohan spoke with both drivers and gathered information for his report. He cited the at fault driver, Billy Joe Dooley, for “No proof of insurance” when the driver could not provide proof of minimum required insurance coverage. A system check did report that the insurance was valid on the vehicle. During that interaction the deputy did not detect any signs that the at fault driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

At approximately 5:00 pm, immediately after completing that interaction and releasing both drivers the deputy, who was facing a different direction at this time, heard a loud crash. He looked and saw that the driver that he had just cited was involved in another crash at the same location. The deputy activated his emergency lights and pulled onto the highway to check on everyone involved.

I arrived on the scene within a few minutes and the deputy informed me of the previous crash, and circumstances of it. At this point, Deputy Mollohan had already asked for the Georgia State Patrol to respond and assist with working this crash. They advised me that the State Trooper was 20 or 25 minutes away and I told them we would wait on him and to continue to have him enroute. Once he arrived, the deputy and I informed him of the circumstances with the previous crash and this crash.

The State Trooper who responded is a certified “DRE” drug recognition expert and has advanced levels of training involving impairment. The State Trooper put the at fault driver through a battery of several tests as well as evaluating his condition as it relates to his field of advanced training as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). The State trooper later informed me that he believed that the at fault driver, Billy Joe Dooley, was under the influence of some type of substance. My understanding is that alcohol was not suspected. He placed him under arrest and he consented to a blood test under implied consent at the State Trooper’s request.

The initial investigating deputy expressed his concern to me and to the State Trooper that he didn’t detect any impairment during the previous crash. He felt very bad for the ones involved in the second crash. I have no doubt that if Deputy Mollohan had suspected any level of intoxication, he would have handled that crash accordingly. We will be scheduling advanced training, which he had recently already been looking for, in the near future.

This is only meant as my response to the questions and concerns that have been sent to me. I’m not blaming anyone for having concerns, I’m not upset for people expressing frustration at me. I get it, we (law enforcement) get frustrated too. Whether it’s impaired drivers, drug dealers, thieves or any of the other ones that we have to deal with and arrest time after time. However, we don’t let those frustrations keep us from doing our jobs.
This is just the truth, no “cover-ups”.”

Sheriff Schrader emphasized that the purpose of the statement was transparency and addressing public concern, noting that no impairment was detected during the first crash investigation and that the DUI arrest followed a subsequent collision and evaluation by a specially trained State Trooper.

The case remains under investigation pending the results of the blood test and further legal proceedings.