‘Mama June’ was treated like any other suspect, AL sheriff says

MACON COUNTY, AL (WSFA) - Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson wasn’t familiar with June Shannon, aka Mama June, when she was booked into his jail Wednesday, but when the phones started ringing off the hook, he knew she wasn’t an ordinary arrest.

Shannon and her boyfriend, Geno Doak, were arrested on multiple charges after deputies responded to a domestic violence call at a Franklin area gas station.

After being booked, calls came flooding in from national television shows wanting information and a mugshot.

“I never imagined we would get so many phone calls from so many different people about them,” Brunson said. “Me, myself, I wasn’t too familiar with Mama June and all, you know the whole TV series... but somebody recognized them right away.”

But the sheriff wasn’t about to give special treatment. “We followed our rules and our guidelines,” he explained, " and they were treated the same as anybody else when they come to the Macon County Jail."

Shannon rocketed to reality stardom with her young daughter, Alana, in 2012 when the girl was featured on TLC’s child beauty pageant show "Toddlers and Tiaras.“ The child was later given her own show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” And Shannon became the focus of her own show, “From Not to Hot,” which chronicled her dramatic weight loss.

Brunson said Shannon was “cordial” and said deputies didn’t have problems with either suspect during their interaction and subsequent arrest. Shannon bonded out of the jail that day on drug charges, the sheriff said. Doak, however, was delayed in bonding out for a mandatory 24 hours due to the domestic nature of his charge.

“They were acting so loving while they were here [at jail],” Brunson explained. “but out there, they did have a domestic.”

When asked if he’d ever had such a high-profile arrest in his time as sheriff, Brunson said “not like this one... this has been overwhelming the last few days."

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