Atlanta man arrested for disorderly intoxication after aggressively harassing RTS bus driver and passengers for hotspot access

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dmario Lashawn Sims, 46, of Atlanta, was arrested yesterday and charged with disorderly intoxication after allegedly demanding that an RTS bus driver give him access to his phone’s hotspot to buy a bus ticket and then becoming aggressive with bus passengers and a police officer while demanding hotspot access.

At about 9:30 p.m. on May 21, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the 700 block of SE 3rd Street, where an RTS bus driver said Sims had become increasingly agitated when he was told that the bus would not take him to Georgia. He said Sims began getting on and off the bus, demanding to use the driver’s phone hotspot to purchase a bus ticket. The driver said Sims also harassed several passengers on the bus for access to their phones’ hotspots.

The driver’s supervisor arrived and told the officer he had also seen Sims behave aggressively with bus passengers to get access to their phones’ hotspots.

The officer reported that Sims had called 911, demanding that he be allowed to use law enforcement WiFi or be driven to a location with WiFi. The officer showed Sims several nearby areas with free WiFi, but Sims reportedly said he would rather go to jail. The officer reported that Sims asked several times to be taken to jail.

Sim reportedly opened the back door of a patrol car and tried to get in. The officer reported that Sims’s mood ranged from passive to aggressive, including screaming into the officer’s and bus driver’s faces about his bus ticket. The officer noted that he could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Sims’s body and breath.

Sims has been charged with disorderly intoxication. He refused to be interviewed by Court Services, so they could not determine how long he has been in the area or where he is staying. He has an unspecified criminal history in Georgia between 1995 and 2024 and has an active warrant out of Georgia. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $2,500.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.