Montavious Winkfield Indicted on Theft Charges in Lavonia

Montavious Cantrel Winkfield has been indicted on eight counts by a Franklin County Grand Jury stemming from an incident that happened the day before he was allegedly involved in an officer-involved shooting in Toccoa.

According to the indictment and the Lavonia Police incident report, it happened early on the morning of June 30.

Winkfield allegedly approached a woman at the Lavonia Gazebo park around 6:30a that morning and struck up a short conversation with her.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, told police she had left her purse inside her truck while she went into the public restroom, and when she came back her wallet and truck keys were missing.

Surveillance video from the park shows a middle-aged black male approach the truck, look inside, and then walk away.

Officers later found her purse behind a trash can at the park.

The suspect, later identified as Winkfield, allegedly took her wallet and checkbook containing cash, checks, and credit cards valued at around $1,000, as well as a bottle of prescription medicine.

The next day, July 1, Winkfield was the subject of a manhunt in Toccoa-Stephens County after he allegedly shot at a Stephens County deputy during a traffic stop.

He was located the next day and arrested at the Ridgewood Hill Apartments on Poole St. in Lavonia.

The Franklin County Grand Jury indicted him on one count each of Entering an Automobile, Financial Transaction Card Theft, Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, Fraud or Theft in Obtaining a Controlled Substance, and Theft by Taking – all felonies.

He is scheduled to have a bond hearing this week in Franklin County Superior Court.