Acting on a tip, Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Davis Aerne went looking for a man with a warrant out for his arrest and found him walking along a street in Bloomfield last Friday.

Jeffery Scott Bays II, 34, was arrested on Friday, October 26, by Deputy Aerne and booked in to the Greene County Jail where his bond was set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Deputy Aerne said the sheriff’s department had gotten a tip about Bays and Aerne located him walking in the area of South Washington and North Street in Bloomfield. He was taken into custody without incident.

The warrant for his arrest was issued because Bays was accused of driving while suspended, when he knew his license was suspended and he’d already been convicted previously for driving while suspended.

The latest criminal charge against Bays came about because Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor of the Bloomfield Police Department was on patrol on September 1 when he conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of South Seminary and West Davis streets in Bloomfield. Allor said a headlight was out on a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu.

Bays was the driver. Officer Allor reported Bays first said he didn’t think his license was suspended but later admitted he knew it was suspended after Allor said a records check revealed it was suspended and he was convicted of driving while suspended in 2016 and that Bays was not even eligible for a driver’s license.

Bays was not arrested on the spot but on September 6, Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Stone filed a case against Bays to charge him with driving while suspended – a knowing violation with a prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor.

A summons was sent to Bays, at his last known address in Linton, ordering him to appear in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on October 15. But the summons was returned with notation that it was unable to be forwarded, Bays had moved and did not leave a forwarding address.   

So Bays was a no-show at the hearing, and the judge issued the warrant.

On the same day as his arrest, Bays posted $500 cash, was released and given a new court date. Now he’s supposed to be in court on November 1 for that initial hearing.