REPORT: Homeless man in broken down vehicle jailed on traffic charges

A trio of traffic charges landed a homeless Rockmart man in jail after he tried to drive his car, and ended up breaking down before he got far.

Polk County Police jailed Michael Steele, 49, listed as a homeless man from Rockmart, was booked into custody early on Thursday morning at the Polk County Jail on misdemeanor charges of driving while license withdrawn, driving and unregistered vehicle and failure to maintain lane.

Steele was found by officers broken down in a 2015 Chevrolet Cruze in the area around Old Cedartown Road and Sosbee Road on Wednesday night, per the report filed this morning.

PCPD asked Steele if he was broken down, and he explained that he was testing to see if the car would make it down the driveway, which was a public roadway per police.

They asked Steele for his license and registration, and he was unable to produce them at the time. He was taken into custody without incident.

PCPD noted that a small dog was inside the vehicle at the time, and despite attempts to find someone to come pick it up, Polk County Animal Control took it into custody.

Steele remained in custody as of this posting on a $2,680.