Author: Staff Reports

Chalk another illegal drug arrest up to a bicycle. According to a Douglas Police Department incident report, shortly after 8 p.m. on May 24, a Douglas police officer noticed an individual on a bicycle run the stop sign at Pine Street and South Gaskin Avenue. The officer turned around to stop the individual when the suspect stopped at a South Gaskin Avenue residence. The officer pulled into the freshman campus to see what happened next. The report says that the officer knew that Anthony Mabry, 34, lived there. Mabry was a suspected drug dealer, according to the report. After a…

A 22-year-old Douglas woman was jailed and later released after she allegedly assaulted two nurses at Coffee Regional Medical Center last week. According to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department, a deputy with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office transported Shasmine Sirmans, 22, of Douglas, to CRMC, on May 27, 2024. EMS had been called to Sirmans’s location because she was, as the report said, “having a mental breakdown.” As a result, Sirmans had become aggressive with her family, according to the report. EMS personnel were not comfortable transporting Sirmans and asked a deputy to do so. The deputy took Sirmans to…

On May 28, 2024, Heather Lankford, 49, of Douglas, was arrested and charged with insurance fraud after she allegedly took out an insurance policy on her ex-husband without his knowledge, an action that caused her ex to fear for his safety. According to a report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, on May 7, 2024, Lankford’s ex went to the CCSO and spoke with a detective after he learned about the insurance policy. The two had recently gone through what the report calls a “tumultuous” divorce. The insurance letter had originally been sent to a Chester Avenue address, which is…

Detectives stopped a Douglas man riding a mini-bike on McNeil Drive last month and ended up arresting him on illegal drug and firearms charges, according to an incident report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office. The report states that on the afternoon of May 21, 2024, detectives saw a man, identified as Darrion Dean Jeffery, 27, of Douglas, pull out of Georgian Woods Apartments on a mini-bike. The report says that Jeffery swerved into the wrong lane and continued riding in the wrong lane for about 100 feet. During the stop, Jeffery admitted that he had a gun and marijuana…

Around 3:30 a.m. on May 26, 2024, a deputy responded to a stabbing call and found the victim walking around with a kitchen knife sticking out of his head near his right eye socket. The call led to the arrest of Victor Vazquez III, 29, of Douglas, on aggravated battery and aggravated assault charges. According to an incident report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, when the deputy arrived at the location, EMS was already on the scene performing life-saving measures. Despite the knife in his head, the victim was conscious and walking, the report says. The fight happened at the home…

Citizens Christian Academy rising junior Blake Bryant is one of the best baseball players in Georgia in the Class of 2026, according to Prep Baseball Report. PBR released its list of top high school baseball players last week and Bryant came in ranked #8 among his peers. Listed as 6’3″ and 165 pounds, Bryant plays several infield positions when he isn’t pitching. But it’s on the mound where he’s most valuable. About Bryant, PBR writes, “He has a true three-pitch mix with confidence in all his pitches. The fastball has late life when it is down in the zone with…

On Monday, June 3, 2024, Ward 2 Douglas City 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.  Court documents show that Durham filed the PPP application through an approved PPP lender in Texas. He showed that he had a business that reported over $96,000 in gross income in the 2019 tax year which, the documents state, Durham “knew . . . to be false.” The amount that Durham received…

A domestic dispute that took place Monday, May 27, 2024, in Atkinson County turned bloody when the assailant, identified as Esmeralda Aguirre, allegedly hit her husband with a machete in front of their children. The victim suffered significant cuts that required both stitches and staples. The victim escaped, jumped in a vehicle, and drove to the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident. ACSO personnel called EMS and 911 to respond. The victim was transported for treatment for his injuries, which included cuts to his head. Had the machete been sharper, the victim’s injuries would likely have been life-threatening.…

A 19-year-old Douglas man was arrested on numerous charges after he allegedly swapped the tag on his black Dodge Charger then refused to stop for police. The relatively slow pursuit ended with a PIT maneuver that disabled the Charger and landed the suspect in jail. On May 18, 2024, at around 1:20 a.m., a Douglas police officer saw a black Dodge Charger that the officer recognized. The officer attempted to read the car’s tag but couldn’t. The car then pulled into Hunter’s Run apartments. The officer drove past the Charger then, according to a report from the Douglas Police Department,…

Last week at Coffee High School, four Coffee High School students signed with the Project SEARCH program at a ceremony in the Performing Arts Center. The signees were Brandon Smith, Zachary Justiss, Montgomery Preston, and Jacqueline Benitez. The Project SEARCH Transition-to-Work Program is a unique, business-led, one-year employment preparation program that takes place entirely at the workplace. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training through worksite rotations. The program culminates in individualized job development. Project SEARCH serves students with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities with the goal of each participant gaining competitive…