RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Important evidence in a criminal investigation into the brother of a state representative is missing.
The Catoosa County Sheriff's Office arrested Wesley Gage Weldon on Feb. 13 after finding methamphetamine inside his house while trying to serve him with a restraining order. Four days later, an investigator returned to the location of the arrest, looking for the camera that he said held pictures of the drugs as the sheriff's office found them.
Detective Scott Jordan wrote in his application for a search warrant that a member of the sheriff's office accidentally left the camera behind. But after looking through the house, Jordan returned empty-handed.
"The item was not located," he wrote in an incident report, adding no explanation.
State Rep. Tom Weldon, who also works as an attorney and is the defendant's brother, declined to comment Wednesday, citing attorney-client privilege.
"I can't speak to you about that," he told a reporter. "I represent him."
Ga., State Rep. Tom Weldon, R-RinggoldAsked Wednesday whether his investigators had found the camera yet, Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said, "I don't know." He said he would look into the question. Hours later, he sent a text message saying he had not had time to check on the evidence.
Wesley Weldon remained in the Catoosa County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of an $18,500 bond.
Weldon's father also is a prominent resident in the community. Dr. Darrell Weldon is the chairman of the Hutcheson Medical Center board.
The sheriff's office arrested Wesley Weldon after his ex-wife filed for a restraining order. In an affidavit, she wrote that he left her a voicemail earlier that week in February. She thinks he was talking to somebody else while her voicemail recorded him.
"Grab the AK," he said, according to her affidavit. ... "Let's see how he likes a gun in his mouth. Let's go."
When deputies served the restraining order on Feb. 13, according to an incident report, they found methamphetamine on the coffee table and the couch. They also found two "smoking devices," two digital scales, hypodermic needles, spoons with "unknown substances" and a cup with "a crystal-like substance."
"Detective [Jeremy] Keener asked Weldon if he injected methamphetamine, to which he responded, 'No,'" Jordan wrote in his incident report. "Weldon was asked if he had injected pills, to which he responded, 'Yes.'"
This was not the first time his ex-wife had filed for a restraining order. In July, she told a judge that when she and Wesley Weldon argued, he grabbed their 7-year-old son, raised a fist toward her, carried their son to his truck and drove away. He returned after she called his father, she said.
She also told a judge that Wesley Weldon claimed he would cause mayhem if she ever dated somebody else. In her affidavit, she wrote that Weldon said he would kill her, her boyfriend and then himself.
The two divorced in November. Tom Weldon was his attorney. As a condition of the split, Wesley Weldon could not harass his ex-wife or come within 150 yards of her.
Court records show Wesley Weldon also was arrested in May 2005 after an officer searched his car and found a Glock .45 and a Sig Sauer .22, both loaded.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.