Author: Staff Reports

A March 22, 2025 wedding celebration set in motion a series of alleged events that led to a 54-year-old Douglas man going to jail on multiple counts of financial transaction card theft. On March 26, 2025, a Douglas police officer responded to a transaction card fraud call. In a Douglas Police Department incident report, the victim reported that she had attended a wedding on March 22 and between 5 and 6:30 p.m., she gave family members rides after the wedding. When she returned home, she attempted to use her debit card but couldn’t find it. The report says she looked…

An illegal drug investigation that began in Atkinson County involving a Douglas man led to a second arrest and more charges in Coffee County. A report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office states that on March 28, 2025, a detective in Atkinson County contacted Coffee County authorities and reported that Michael Dees, 56, of Mora had been arrested on possession of methamphetamine charges. During the initial investigation, the report says that Dees stated there was more methamphetamine at his residence in Mora. Officers went to the home and spoke with Angel Michelle Howell, 53, of Willacoochee. The report says that…

Day one of the GIAA state track meet is in the books and the CCA Patriots had a strong showing. In the boys 4x100m, Jonah Hall, Luke Russ, Miller Hutchison, and Ethan Duran improved from 48.67 to 47.93.The boys 4x400m of Luke Russ, Miller Hutchison, Jonah Hall, and Sam Ables dropped their time from 4:06 to 3:58.52, closing in on the CCA school record.Freshman Jayla Shrouder cut her 800m time from 2:56 to 2:47.Arabelle Roberts ran a huge PR in the 300m hurdles, going from 55.19 at region to 51.59, qualifying for Saturday’s finals.Today the field events begin, with Roberts,…

Earlier this month, an Ormond Beach, Florida, woman was arrested after she allegedly shoplifted several items from Walmart. During the shoplifting investigation, officers allegedly discovered a quantity of methamphetamine in her possession. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, an officer went to Walmart in reference to a shoplifting incident. Walmart personnel told the officer that Joy Borgwardt, 40, of Ormond Beach, Florida, had been in the store for several hours allegedly stealing $262.02 in merchandise. During the investigation, officers searched a large handbag that Borgwardt had. Inside the bag as a quantity of suspected methamphetamine. Borgwardt was…

Rhianna Lewis, daughter of Ron and Julee Brooke Lewis and a Class of 2025 honor graduate, has received the James B. Duke Scholarship from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. Davidson is a private liberal arts college and is consistently ranked as one of the top schools in the country. Rhianna, who will graduate in the Davidson Class of 2029, is one of five James B. Duke Scholars chosen nationwide. The scholarship covers full tuition and fees, totaling $69,315 for Rhianna’s freshman year. To keep the scholarship all four years, she will have to maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA, continue…

A 31-year-old Douglas woman who was arrested in February on animal cruelty charges has been arrested again, this time on a variety of charges related to an alleged April 19, 2025, domestic dispute. According to an incident report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a residence on Megan Road at around 8:40 p.m. on April 19. When they arrived, the victim had left and walked to another incident. The victim, a male, said he was at his brother’s house when his brother and Sarah Davis, 31, began arguing. Sarah is his brother’s girlfriend. When the two started…

It may not appropriate to use a baseball analogy in a football story but here goes anyway – talking about hitting a home run! The Appling County Pirates have landed one of the winningest football coaches in the state. Earlier today, the Appling County School System announced that Tucker Pruitt will be the next head coach for the Pirates. Coach Pruitt has been the head coach at Fitzgerald since 2017. His teams have made the playoffs every year of his tenure. Since 2020, he has made the semifinals twice and the finals three times, winning one state title in 2021…

On April 12, 2025, a Douglas police officer pursued two vehicles traveling south out the city at a high rate of speed and ended up making one arrest on multiple charges. According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, just after 10 p.m., an officer saw the two vehicles traveling side by side well in excess of the 45 mph posted speed limit. The officer turned his vehicle around at Airport Circle to stop the cars. The report says that the officer finally caught up to the cars near St. Paul Catholic Church. He stopped the car that was…

The Robert Toombs Christian Academy Crusaders finally woke up Thursday afternoon. After losing games to the CCA Patriots Monday and Tuesday by a combined score of 21-1, the Crusaders defeated the Patriots 12-2 in six innings Thursday in Lyons. CCA managed just two hits in the contest. Despite their woes against Crusaders starting pitcher Brittan Tabor, the Patriots at one time held a 2-1 lead. It just didn’t last very long. The Crusaders scored a run in the bottom of the first. Tabor helped his own cause a little – he singled to right, scoring Christian Mixon for the game’s…

A Catoosa County man who had been convicted of computer pornography and was serving his prison sentence at Coffee Correctional Facility was taken into the custody of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office on April 14, 2025, after he was released from prison. Nathaniel Kenneth Hartwell, 54, finished his prison sentence in Nicholls but was wanted in Tennessee on more sex crime charges. According to a report from the sheriff’s office, officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have a warrant on Hartwell for sexual exploitation of a minor dating back to May 29, 2013. Officers in Tennessee have notified the sheriff’s office that…