Author: Staff Reports

An inmate who escaped from the Coffee County Jail Saturday evening was captured Sunday morning – after about 15 hours on the lam. According to a post on the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, Timothy Wayne Watkins, who was awaiting trial on burglary charges, slipped under the jail’s fence at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. He made his break wearing a khaki jail uniform. At 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, officers from the sheriff’s department found Watkins in the Oak Park community. He was taken back to the jail where he faces an additional escape charge. On the…

After an extensive investigation following an Aug. 3, 2019 shooting, the GBI Douglas office, Coffee County investigators, and U.S. Marshals Service have obtained information that led to the arrest of the following individuals: Michael J. Williams 21: one count Aggravated Assault, one count Possession of Firearm by Convicted Felon, one count Participating in Criminal Street Gang, James Turner IV 26: one count Aggravated Assault, one count Participating in Criminal Street Gang, Ladarius W. Williams 20: one count Aggravated Assault, one count Participating in Criminal Street Gang, Edward L. Grady 24: one count Aggravated Assault, one count Participating in Criminal Street…

Home surveillance video footage helped capture a Coffee County man suspected of taking items from a local residence. On September 11, 2019, deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office responded to an address on Andrew Tanner Road in Nicholls in reference to a theft that had occurred earlier in the day. Miscellaneous items were taken from the residence, which were captured on surveillance cameras. Investigators with the Criminal Investigations Division reviewed the surveillance footage and was able to identify the subject in the video as Johnny Markum Swails. The following day, investigators with the Division went to an…

By Katherine Tucker Law.com Reprinted with permission The winner of the $280 million verdict in Columbus, Georgia, Friday almost didn’t become a trial lawyer. That’s Brandon Peak of Butler Wooten & Peak, the storied plaintiffs firm with offices in Columbus, Atlanta and Savannah. A native of Gastonia, North Carolina, near Charlotte, Peak went to college at The Citadel, the elite and famously strict military school in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a battalion commander, member of the honor court and top business student. After that, he was offered a full scholarship to Mercer University School of Law. He graduated No. 1 in…

The Douglas Police Department has arrested and charged Norris Keyon Moffett of Douglas with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals after he allegedly shot a kitten in the face with a flare gun. Moffett was booked into the Coffee County Jail following his arrest. According to a Facebook post by Coffee Cause for Paws, the incident happened on Saturday, Aug. 17. Here is the Facebook post describing the incident: “Monsters aren’t real, but humans are. “Today, we received a call for help. This beautiful five-week old kitten had been shot in the face with a flare gun. Why? Because evil…

A Coffee County man is being held on aggravated battery charges after allegedly assaulting a Broxton woman and her one-month old daughter, who was transported to Savannah with serious injuries following the alleged attack. According to a press release issued by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, an officer with the Broxton Police Department requested assistance from the sheriff’s department’s Criminal Investigations Unit after responding to the residence where the assault was reported. The victim stated that she was holding her one-month old daughter when Eddie Laroon Armour, 33, attacked them. The little girl was taken to the Pediatric Intensive…

Former Douglas mayor Jackie Wilson, age 82, of Douglas, passed away on Tuesday August 6, 2019 at St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Mrs. Wilson was born on June 14, 1937 in Atkinson County, the daughter of the late Seaborn Bunyon Lastinger and Florence Lanell Smith Lastinger. The impact that Jackie made on the Douglas-Coffee County community during her lifetime cannot be overstated. Jackie worked for the City of Douglas from 1962 to 2007. She started as Executive Secretary to the City Manager. In 1972, she transferred to the Urban Renewal Department as Assistant Director, in 1974 became…

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is spearheading an investigation into a shooting that took place in the Oak Park community Saturday night. On Saturday, August 3, 2019, at approximately 7:50 p.m., the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to shots fired at 369 Poplar Street. Officers arrived on the scene and found an abandoned vehicle that had been wrecked nearby. Officers were then dispatched to a nearby convenience store where they encountered Michael Jerome Williams, 21, suffering from a gunshot wound. EMTs transported Williams to Coffee Regional Medical Center for treatment. The sheriff’s department asked the GBI to…

The case involving stolen items from a Coffee County fire station has been solved. On July 15, 2019, deputies from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office were notified of several items taken from the Coffee County Fire Station 19. Coffee County detectives began working the case. The Pearson Police Department and the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office were also investigating similar incidents. The Pearson Police Department received information in reference to items taken from their jurisdiction which could have also involved the theft from the Coffee Fire Department. Detectives from all three agencies combined their information and leads and were…

A thief (or thieves) has made off with some very important firefighting equipment and the county fire department is asking for your help in locating the missing items. County EMA director Steve Carver made a Facebook post earlier today that contained the following: “Someone has broken into the Coffee County Volunteer Fire Department in the Satilla/Fales community and stolen over $5,000 worth of equipment. This equipment is vital to our firefighters being able to protect lives and property.” Chief Carver asked if anyone has any information related to where equipment is or who the thieves are to contact…