Author: Staff Reports

A special city election will be held to fill the vacancy of the Ward 2 commissioner seat. The special election will be held on November 5, 2024. The seat was vacated when, on June 2, 2024, then-commissioner Kentaiwon Durham pleaded guilty to one count of wire transfer fraud in federal court in Brunswick. The guilty plea came as a result of a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application Durham filed on March 19, 2021.  Qualifying for the special election shall be held at the Coffee County Elections Office located at 321 S Pearl Avenue in Douglas beginning at 8:30…

Col. Sidney R. “Sid” Miles, former state public safety commissioner with connections to Douglas, has passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 73. Col. Miles was a dedicated public servant and beloved family man passed away on July 14, 2024, at the Hospice of the Golden Isles in Brunswick, after a long battle with multiple myeloma. He was reared in Reidsville, graduating from the Reidsville High School in 1969. After graduation, he attended then-South Georgia College in Douglas, and Reinhardt University, where he received a degree in Criminal Justice. In 1969, he joined the Georgia State Patrol, and…

An alleged domestic dispute that occurred on July 7, 2024, resulted in a double stabbing — one victim was allegedly stabbed with a broken broom stick while the other was wounded with a knife. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, Jerry Manning, 55, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend with a broken broom stick handle. She responded, the report says, by stabbing him with a knife. She was not charged in the incident. The report says that Manning and the victim had gotten into an argument. They were dating but…

A federal judge has sided with Dr. Mahendra Amin and ruled that NBCUniversal made “verifiably false” statements regarding the care he provided to women at the Irwin County Detention Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Ocilla, according to a Fox News report. In September of 2020, a report from a whistleblower surfaced alleging that Dr. Amin performed unnecessary hysterectomies on women who were detained at the detention center. There were other allegations made regarding inadequate COVID-19 protocols and care; however, the hysterectomies are what propelled the story into the national discourse. Several major news outlets picked up…

Shahee Jump, 47, remains in the Coffee County Jail on a variety of charges, including kidnapping, burglary, fleeing, false imprisonment, and a host of others after a domestic dispute on Bethel Road that took place late in the afternoon of July 6, 2024. Officers responded to a call at 1189 Bethel Road Lot 317 in reference to a domestic dispute, according to a report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office. The initial call stated that Jump allegedly forced his way inside the home and abducted his wife. Officers located Jump’s vehicle, a white Chevrolet Avalanche, and gave chase. At one…

At Monday’s regular city commission meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of pad mount transformers, a 10-year contract with Axon to provide technology (including body cameras) for the police department, and they recognized the 10U girls state champion softball team, among other items of business. The commission approved the 10-year contract with Axon to provide body cameras, in-car cameras, tasers, and the accompanying software at a cost of $239,397 per year. Bart McCullough of the Douglas PoliceDepartment introduced the item to commissioners. “Axon is top of the line. This year contract will lock us in for 10 years and the cost…

Jackson Banks, a former Trojan who played his freshman year of football at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has signed with Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.Banks, a defensive lineman listed at 6’1”, 280 lbs., played in 10 games with Mississippi Gulf Coast, totaling 15 tackles and half a sack. He had planned to transfer to Georgia Military College in Milledgeville for his sophomore campaign. But then the Monarchs came calling. They had been watching Banks during his freshman season. After the season ended, they let him know they were interested. Banks signed with Old Dominion on June 1 and…

Skip scanning at self-checkout kiosks is a popular way to attempt to commit fraud. It doesn’t, however, always work out. This is one of those cases. On June 22, 2024, an officer with the Douglas Police Department answered a call at Walmart Supercenter regarding a suspected shoplifting. The officer spoke with an employee who said that they had caught a female skip scanning items. The female, identified as Melinda Bush, 56, of Douglas, was still at the register, the report states. The amount of merchandise she had allegedly skip scanned was $32.36. Bush was arrested and taken to the Coffee…

A Waycross man now calls Coffee County home – specifically, the Coffee County Jail – after he was caught allegedly breaking into Ruby Tuesday and Jersey Mike’s in the early morning hours of June 17, 2024. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, an officer responded to a call at Ruby Tuesday on the afternoon of June 17. The manager stated that she had noticed damage to the back door of the restaurant. She looked at camera footage and saw a man approach the building around 2:45 a.m. He pushed the camera away then entered the restaurant, the…

A 53-year-old Douglas man remains in the Coffee County Jail after detectives served a search warrant at his house and found suspected crack cocaine inside the residence. According to a report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, on June 27, 2024, detectives with the drug unit served a search warrant at Crown Villa Apartments on East Walker Street. Detectives had information that drugs were being sold out of Apartment B at the complex. When officers arrived, they found Allyn Franklin, 53, inside the apartment. A search of the home revealed a bag of suspected crack cocaine. According to the report,…