Author: Staff Reports

A former Southwire employee is in jail on theft charges after allegedly attempting to steal a large roll of copper wire from the Douglas Southwire plant on Sunday, Feb. 11. According to a press release posted on the Douglas Police Department’s Facebook page, a police officer responded to Southwire on Kellogg Drive just after 11 p.m. Sunday night after an off-duty officer reported a suspicious vehicle in the area. The investigating officer found Christopher Paul Edge of Douglas allegedly stealing the wire. At the time, Edge was Southwire employee. He was arrested and transported to the Coffee County jail, where…

Saturday afternoon, an individual discovered two bodies inside a home in Pearson and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting the Pearson Police Department with the case. On Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, the Pearson Police Department requested that the GBI assist with a death investigation. At approximately 1:50 p.m., a neighbor reported that two bodies were located at 371 West Allen Avenue in Pearson. Officers arrived at the residence and found the bodies of Willie J. Oliver Sr., 72, and Jerome A. Nixon, 62. Both died from apparent gunshot wounds. Autopsies will be performed at the GBI Crime Lab in…

According to a story published on Savannahceo.com, Becky Moore Elliott, a Douglas native, has been named general manager at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation’s service and completions center at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport in Brunswick. As a part of her new duties, Elliott will oversee all aspects of Gulfstream Brunswick, which is a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility for Gulfstream. According to the story, the facility has 265 employees. For the last 20 years, Elliott has worked in several different capacities at Gulfstream in the company’s Savannah operations facility. During her early career, she was named production manager for the electrical,…

Douglas has lost one of its greatest advocates. On Tuesday, January 23, 2018, Virginia “Ginny” Lockwood, 90, passed away at Coffee Regional Medical Center. She was the widow of Max Lockwood, former Chamber of Commerce president and mayor of Douglas. Max Lockwood was tireless in his work with the Chamber of Commerce and City of Douglas. But he wasn’t the only one. Ginny Lockwood was always at his side, trumpeting her city, her county, her church, her Lord, and her family. Ginny was involved in a number of civic groups and activities and remained in Douglas even after Max succumbed…

According to the Coffee County Ga Sheriff’s Office FB page, there’s an unknown person that has been attempting to conduct unlawful law enforcement traffic stops in the area. Reports of a dark-colored vehicle utilizing blue and red dashboard lights to impersonate law enforcement have been made in Irwin and Ben Hill Counties, and another incident was reported around 10:30 Thursday night in Coffee County in the area of Ga. Hwy. 32 W. and Dennis Harper Rd. Neither the Coffee County Sheriff’s Ofice or any other Coffee County municipal police department utilizes red lights on agency vehicles. If a vehicle with red…

According to a story posted on agfax.com, Andrew Sawyer, a native of Douglas who now works as an Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Wilcox County, received the Senior King Cotton Award from the Georgia Cotton Commission. He was given the award at the 2017 Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference held in Columbus in November. Sawyer previously served as the ANR agent in Thomas County. He has conducted variety trials with producers and has put an emphasis on educating growers about new technologies and techniques. Sawyer has worked to educate…

Friday morning, an inmate at the Coffee County Jail walked off a work detail at the courthouse where he was painting the visiting judge’s office. The inmate, 50-year-old Donald Dewayne Davis, had been held at the jail since July 2017 on multiple drug charges and a probation violation. Davis and an accomplice made it all the way to North Carolina before getting arrested Saturday morning. Both are in custody and more charges will be pending.

After being on the run for over four months, deputies arrested George Darryl Harper, 61, Thursday morning after a short high speed chase. Harper was charged with trafficking and manufacturing marijuana in February 2016 after officials discovered over 300 pounds of marijuana at a residence near his farm. He was released from the Coffee County Jail shortly afterwards, after being granted a $100,000 bond by a Superior Court judge. Harper failed to appear in court for a bond revocation hearing in July 2017, and had been on the run since. Thursday morning, Nov. 30, 2017, Harper…

According to a press release on the Douglas GA Police Department facebook page, DPD and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office merged forces to form a joint gang task force. The Douglas Coffee Gang Unit (DCGU), joint gang task force, has received advanced training, recruited officers from both agencies and were trained to recognize and report all gang activity in Coffee County. The DCGU is viable and will prevent and prosecute all criminal street gang related crimes thoughout Coffee County. On October 24, 2017, The Douglas Coffee Gang Unit obtained 12 arrest warrants for violations of the Georgia Street Geng Terrorism…

Saturday afternoon, a traffic stop near the intersection Southwest Bowens Mill Road and Highway 32 West led to the discovery of a body of a missing Douglas man and charges against an individual believed to have been involved in his death. According to information released by the Douglas Police Department on its Facebook page, Joseph Dewayne Gaskin, 56, of Douglas, hadn’t been seen since Sept. 26. Gaskin had last been seen in the company of Joshua Carl Parrott, 38. The DPD got involved in the case when the officers from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, while investigating a theft Parrott…