A shoplifting call Thursday night at the Douglas Wal-Mart escalated into a high speed chase that spanned two counties and five different agencies. The call came from Wal-Mart that a suspect, identified as Devon Michael Boyd, 19 of Florida, had allegedly taken items from the store. Douglas police tried to apprehend Boyd but he had other plans. Driving a black Ford pick-up, Boyd fled the scene. Once the chase entered the county, deputies took over. Troopers from the Georgia State Patrol picked up the chase at the Jeff Davis County line. Boyd was headed for Hazlehurst when troopers performed a…
Author: Robert Preston, Jr.
Embattled city commissioner Olivia Pearson is set to stand trial again on charges of felony voter fraud in October. Pearson was tried in March on the same charges; however, Superior Court Judge Andy Spivey declared a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict. The jury deadlocked at 11-1. Pearson’s second trial has been continued twice since March. Her trial, which was on the June and August calendars, has been continued twice. Since the first trial, Pearson has a new legal team. The continuances have been granted to allow her new counsel to familiarize themselves with the case. Commissioner Pearson’s…
Quarterback Wade Sumner and running back Marquavious Jefferson each scored touchdowns in the Coffee Trojans’ preseason scrimmage Thursday night against the Colquitt County Packers in Moultrie. The Trojans also saw something they haven’t seen in quite a while – a field goal in excess of 30 yards – courtesy of Pancho Rivas’s leg in the third quarter. Despite the bright spots, the Trojans fell to the Packers 42-17 on a hot, muggy night in Moultrie. The Packers, who have won two of the last three state titles in Georgia’s highest classification, scored early and often against Coffee. Colquitt found the…
Monday morning, Superior Court Judge Andy Spivey issued a bench warrant for the arrest of George Darryl Harper after Harper failed to show up for a bond revocation hearing. Harper was arrested in February 2016 after officers discovered 325 pounds of marijuana near his residence. He had been charged with trafficking and manufacturing marijuana. Following his arrest, Harper had been released on $100,000 bond. According to the district attorney’s office, Harper’s revocation hearing was taking place for non-compliance, although officials didn’t say exactly how he wasn’t complying. Harper didn’t show up in court Monday and further investigation revealed that he…
Last Thursday, two agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation spoke to the Douglas Rotary Club. Agents Jason Nipper and Kellyn Wilkes spent a few minutes discussing the various divisions of the GBI, their scope of investigations, and the relationships the GBI has with other law enforcement agencies. During a question and answer session, the agents got a little more specific regarding several of these topics. Most people know very little about exactly how the GBI gets involved in local cases and the jursidiction the agency has in criminal investigations. The agents’ discussion Thursday shed a great deal of…
Friday, Tywone Brewton, 18 of Douglas, was arrested in connection with a shooting that took place in the city a week ago. On Friday, July 14, Ricardio Cortez Mitchell, 28, was shot on South McDonald Road. He was life-flighted to Jacksonville, Fla., where he remains in critical condition. Brewton, nicknamed Squirm, turned himself into authorities on Friday, July 21. Brewton was charged with aggravated assault. The investigation is ongoing and more charges may follow. Brewton was a rising senior at Coffee High School. A running back for the Trojans, he was one of Coffee’s most formidable offensive weapons last year…
Normally, not much goes on in West Green. Tonight was a little different. A Peterbilt tanker truck hauling liquid fertilizer rolled into a ditch as the driver negotiated a turn. The truck fell into the ditch then slowly rolled over, emptying the contents of the tank. The load was about 1,000 gallons and it poured into the ditch. It wasn’t particularly potent fertilizer; there was no odor at all at the scene of the accident. There were no injuries and because the truck came to rest well off the roadway, traffic wasn’t affected very much. Vehicles had to slow down…
The street lights are back up in downtown Douglas but not all of them are working following a brief but violent weather system that ravaged the downtown area Saturday afternoon. Call it whatever you want to – a microburst, straight-line winds, whatever – it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the destruction the system left in its wake. High winds ripped street lights from their perches, snapped trees in half, flung debris across roadways, and in what is one of the most spectacular (and destructive) displays of Mother Nature locally in a long time, ripped the roof off the…
Claudin Pubien Jr., 26 of Douglas, who was arrested last week on burglary charges after detectives discovered a “mountain” of stolen items at his home, had previously been charged with murder in the 2013 killing of Daquavious Reed. Two other individuals, both of whom are Pubien’s brothers, Claron Carter and D’Andre Carter, received life sentences for their roles in Reed’s death. Pubien, however, ultimately pled guilty to robbery by force and was sentenced to 20 years on probation. Authorities determined that Pubien had a lesser role in Reed’s death than the other two. He neither planned the shooting nor was…
Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie sensation and former Coffee Trojan Tyreek Hill has been named one of the 100 best players in the NFL. It’s an annual list compiled through interviews with current players in the league and it’s not without controversy. However, to be included on the list, no matter where a player ends up, is an honor in itself. Hill, a returner/running back/receiver, landed at #36, sandwiched between the Texans’ J.J. Watt (#35) and the Broncos’ Aqib Talib (#37). In the video clip that accompanied Hill’s selection, he opens by challenging the top-ranked player on the list, Patriots quarterback…