Author: Staff Reports

A traffic stop at the intersection of Barrington Road and Sinkhole Road for no insurance turned into an illegal drug investigation when officers found suspected methamphetamine on the driver of the vehicle. According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, around 9:45 p.m. on October 7, 2025, a deputy saw a 1997 Ford pickup turn off of Highway 32 on to Barrington Road without using its turn signal. The officer ran the vehicle’s tag and it came back as uninsured. The officer initiated a traffic stop and spoke with the driver, identified as Jeremy Dewayne Smith, 36, of Ambrose,…

Tuesday afternoon, David Spivey, who had been charged with embracery in connection with the November 2022 murder trial of Justin Anderson, was acquitted by a Coffee County jury after a short trial and even shorter deliberation. Spivey had been arrested in March of 2023 after a Grand Jury indicted him (and Joey Anderson, Justin Anderson’s father) on embracery charges (Georgia’s official term for jury tampering). The indictment states that Joey Anderson allegedly contacted David Spivey, the brother of Johnny Spivey, a potential juror in Justin Anderson’s 2022 trial. Justin Anderson was facing trial on charges of murder, aggravated assault, making…

A new era of football began in Coffee County on Tuesday afternoon – girls’ flag football. The 2020-2021 school year featured the first season of flag football for the Georgia High School Association. From there, the sport has grown significantly, both within the GHSA and into other organizations as well. The Georgia Independent Athletic Association, which governs many of the private schools in Georgia, has also adopted flag football. And now the sport has come to Coffee County via Citizens Christian Academy. Monday afternoon, the first high school flag football games in Coffee County history were played at Patriot Field…

A 29-year-old Douglas woman was arrested and charged with aggressive driving after she allegedly used her vehicle, 2013 Mazda 3, to keep another vehicle, a 2020 Hyundai Sonata, from driving away because a passenger in the Sonata owed her money, according to a report from the Douglas Police Department. The report says that on October 12, 2025, at around 10:30 p.m., an officer responded to a traffic accident call at the intersection of East Mitchell Street and MLK Drive. When the officer arrived, he spoke with Tierra Bennett, 29, of Douglas, who said that she was on Mitchell Street looking…

Another accident involving a side-by-side off- road vehicle that occurred Friday night has claimed a life. Friday night around 9:45, Coffee E-911 received a report of an accident near the intersection of Ivy Road and Topaz Road off Highway 206 toward Fitzgerald. Both are dirt roads. Deputies from the sheriff’s office and emergency personnel responded to the scene and found a wrecked side-by-side that had been carrying multiple occupants. According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, one of the occupants did not survive. The accident investigation has been turned over to the Georgia State Patrol. The sheriff’s office offered…

Saturday afternoon on the campus of South Georgia State College, the Hawks soccer team will face the Gordon State College Highlanders for the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association championship. The game begins at noon. On Tuesday, Gordon defeated Georgia Military 3-0 in one semifinal game. SGSC defeated Central Georgia Tech 3-0 in the other semifinal match-up. For the Hawks, Nandi Carpenter, Ansley Hernandez, and Andrea Cova scored goals. Cova’s goal came on a penalty kick. SGSC and Gordon are the top two teams in the conference. The Hawks are 10- overall and 9-1 in GCAA play while the Highlanders are 9-3-1…

An alleged domestic dispute that occurred on September 23, 2025, just before noon resulted in the arrest of a 20-year-old on battery and false imprisonment charges. Both parties gave differing accounts of the dispute, according to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department. The suspect, identified as Carlton Chambers, 20, of Douglas, stated it was because the female victim put his PS5 in a sink. The victim stated the argument began because she caught him in a lie. Officers responded to a local apartment complex and spoke with the victim. She stated that Chambers was inside the apartment. Using…

This week, a Miami veterinarian with connections to Douglas performed a life-saving procedure on an American crocodile that had a spear and a gunshot wound in its head. Zoo Miami’s veterinarian team, led by Dr. Gwen Myers, operated on an eight-foot-long American crocodile that had a spear lodged in its skull. The team initially began its work to remove the spear; however, during the procedure, they found a bullet in the crocodile’s head as well. Dr. Myers and her team removed the spear and stabilized the crocodile, which is expected to recover. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has…

A 50-year-old who allegedly burglarized a local laundromat on September 7, 2025 remained free over two weeks until he was finally apprehended on September 23, 2025. An incident report from the Douglas Police Department states that around 11:30 p.m. on September 7, an officer responded to a burglary call at a local laundromat. The suspect had entered the back door of the business using a crowbar and had attempted to get into the office. The suspect, later identified as Jimmy Lamar Smith, 50, of Douglas, later fled the scene. The owner had surveillance video from inside the laundromat as well…

Officers from the Douglas Police Department are investigating the suspicious death of a Douglas man. According to a statement on the DPD’s Facebook page, on October 18, 2025, police officers responded to Coffee Regional Medical Center after being notified of a death involving a previously occurred incident and immediately began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the individual’s death. Investigators are actively working to gather information and conduct interviews to determine the events leading up to the incident. The investigation remains ongoing, and no additional details are being released at this stage. The Douglas Police Department asks that anyone with…