A Coffee County jury convicted James Sirmans of insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud this week. Sirmans, along with former funeral home director Chris Johnson, were indicted on the charges nearly a year and a half ago. Johnson has been in jail since October of 2024 after 18 decomposing bodies were found in his funeral home, Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services. Prior to the bodies being found in the funeral home, Johnson had been under investigation for allegedly changing the cause of death on a death certificate. Johnson allegedly changed the cause of death in order to receive…
Author: Staff Reports
Drug agents made one arrest on May 27, 2026, after observing suspected drug deals taking place at a home on Harvey Vickers Road. According to a report from the sheriff’s office, drug agents were watching the residence, a mobile home, because they had received information that Preston Pernell Fields, 53, of Douglas, was dealing drugs there. Vehicles would pull into the yard and Fields would come outside. He would speak to the driver then go back inside. At one point, Fields came out, got into his vehicle, and left. Officers were waiting on Fields when he left and conducted a…
A 39-year-old who had been released from jail enjoyed only a few hours of freedom before he found himself back behind bars. Michael Lee Ansel, 39, of Douglas, had been in jail for about four months. He was released on Friday, May 29, 2026. According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, just after midnight on May 30, a deputy responded to an alleged domestic call involving Ansel. After getting out of jail, Ansel had gone to live in a camper on the same piece of property upon which the mother of his child lived. The report says that…
Around 1:30 a.m. on May 13, 2026, a Douglas police officer arrested Deavious Ferrell, 37, of Nicholls, after he allegedly abandoned suspected illegal drugs during a traffic stop. An incident report states that the officer made the traffic stop on Highway 32 when he observed a 2010 Nissan Altima fail to maintain its lane. The driver, identified as Ferrell, got out of the vehicle and emptied his pockets. The officer could smell marijuana on Ferrell, the report states, and Ferrell admitted to smoking marijuana earlier. As he emptied his pockets, he threw a Newport box on the ground into a…
A Douglas police officer arrested a Tifton man on illegal drug and gun charges as a result of smelling marijuana at an intersection. A report from the police department states that on May 5, 2026, at around 10 p.m., a Douglas police officer was patrolling in the area of Martin Luther King and Mitchell Street when he smelled a strong odor of marijuana at the intersection. He looked around and saw a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe sitting at a Mitchell Street address with its lights on. The officer turned around and saw that the vehicle’s lights had been turned off. The…
An investigation into a complaint involving the sharing of a nude photo without permission resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old. On April 2, 2026, a deputy met with a complainant who said that a nude photo of her had been shared without her permission. The complainant said only one person had the photo, a female. But the female in question “has a new boyfriend” and the complainant believed the boyfriend had accessed the photo and was “sending it around,” according to a report from the sheriff’s office. Deputies investigated the complaint and on May 13, 2026, officers arrested Lawton…
A Douglas man racked up several charges during a traffic stop at South Gaskin Avenue and Railroad Street earlier this month. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, on May 4, 2026, just before 10 p.m., an officer made a traffic stop for no insurance and suspended registration. When told of the reason for the stop, the driver, identified as Jamey Antonio Coates, 51, of Douglas, stated that he did not have a driver’s license, according to the report. The officer also discovered that Coates, a convicted felon, had an active warrant for failure to appear. The officer…
During a traffic stop on May 8, 2026, Douglas police officers arrested a Broxton native on illegal drug charges after he allegedly attempted to flee a traffic stop. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, around 9 p.m. on May 8, a police officer made a traffic stop at Bowens Mill Road SE. The officer identified a passenger in the vehicle as Milton Dayquan Jackson, 26, formerly of Broxton but currently listed as a resident of Jonesboro. Jackson has been arrested multiple times on illegal drug charges and has also fled from officers in the past. As such,…
A 25-year-old remains behind bars after he allegedly sold a vehicle that belonged to someone else while the owner was in jail. According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, on May 13, 2026, an inmate at the jail, Randy Keene, asked to speak with a detective regarding the theft of his vehicle. Keene told the detective that he believed his truck had been stolen from his home on Parkway Road. The detective looked into the complaint and found that a truck matching the description of Keene’s vehicle had been sold to Jewell’s Recycling for $212. The seller was…
An armed standoff in Telfair County over the weekend ended with the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Telfair County Sheriff Sim Davidson. On a post made to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page, Sheriff Davidson provided details of the incident. Early in the afternoon of Sunday, May 24, 2026, deputies responded to a call in reference to threats made to an individual by another person. The deputies spoke with the complainant then went to the suspect’s location, which was on Studstill Road near Temperance Road in southwestern Telfair County. When the deputies arrived at the location, Sheriff…