Former SPD officer involved in fatal shooting arrested in Columbus on drug charges, outstanding warrants
UPDATE:
Note: This story has been updated information about the location of Ernest Ferguson's arrest. He was arrested in Columbus, Georgia, not Columbus, Ohio.
Ernest Ferguson, the former Savannah Police officer who shot and killed Saudi Arai Lee last June in the Carver Village neighborhood, was arrested on Feb. 25 in Columbus, Georgia, for possession of methamphetamine and drug-related objects.
According to a police incident report, on Feb. 25, at 1:11 a.m., a Columbus police officer and corporal were dispatched to an apartment in reference to a wanted person. When officers arrived at the scene, they were told by Torch Hill Security that Ferguson was last seen about a half mile away, at an Exxon gas station.
The corporal had been investigating Ferguson for outstanding warrants related to a shoplifting case in Florida. Columbus police officers located Ferguson inside the Exxon, asked for his name, and arrested him. When the officers searched him, they found in Ferguson’s left sock a “small bag of clear crystal-like substance,” and a blow torch and glass smoking device in his left front pocket. Ferguson was checked into Muscogee County Jail without incident.
PREVIOUS REPORT:
Ernest Ferguson, the former Savannah Police officer who shot and killed Saudi Arai Lee last June in the Carver Village neighborhood, was arrested Jan. 1 by the Clay County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office for shoplifting watches from a mall jewelry store.
According to the incident report, a Clay County Sheriff’s deputy responded around noon to Watches Plus in the Orange Park Mall, just west of Jacksonville. The deputy made contact with Ferguson outside of the nearby Kyodai Sushi Rock Restaurant. The Watches Plus owner identified Ferguson and an eyewitness claimed “three stolen watches were recovered in various locations throughout the parking lot and returned to the owner.”
Ferguson was transported to Orange Park Medical Center to obtain medical clearance due to pre-existing injuries to both of his hands, according to the report. Then, he was transported to the Clay County Jail, where he remains on $25,000 bond.
Previous Coverage
In late October 2022, Ferguson was fired by Savannah Police after he was arrested for drinking and driving. A subsequent internal affairs investigation found him to also have been speeding and lying about his alcohol consumption to a Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputy and Georgia State Patrol trooper.
Ferguson, once a Northwest Precinct patrol officer, was on paid administrative leave from the department at the time of his termination. He was placed on leave while the department conducted its investigation into the fatal shooting of Lee, 31, near the intersection of West Gwinnett and Magazine streets on Savannah's west side. That investigation remains ongoing.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Former Savannah Police officer arrested in Columbus for outstanding warrants, drugs
