Author: Staff Reports

On April 15, most people were worried about their taxes. For a Douglas woman, however, the day had a greater sense of urgency. According to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department, a DPD officer made a traffic stop at North Drive and Highway 221 North that landed Deborah Walker, 56, in jail on drug charges. It was Walker’s second arrest on drug charges in less than a month. The report states that the officer noticed that Walker’s vehicle had a faulty brake light. The officer checked Walker’s identification as well as the IDs of passengers inside the vehicle.…

Thursday afternoon, officers from the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office and agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant in Lowndes County and arrested Brandi Hammond, 38, of Valdosta, on a variety of charges, including multiple counts of felony theft by taking, financial card transaction fraud, and others. Until last year, Hammond served as the chief financial officer of Freedom Cargo Trailers in Willacoochee. Thursday’s operation was the culmination of a lengthy investigation into Hammond and actions she allegedly took while working for Freedom. The investigation is active and ongoing. Officers and agents are continuing to work the…

State qualifiers from the Coffee Middle School track team recently competed at the Georgia Middle School State Championship meet at Parkview High School. This is a two day event that featured over 130 schools or clubs. Every individual event had a minimum of 100 entries. Kellah Smith competed in the 800 meter run in 2:36.66, 1600 meter run with a season best time of 5:42.60 to finish seventeenth, 3200 meter run for a fifteenth place with a time of 13:04.02 Conner Lott had three personal records in the 800 meter run (2:28.15),1600 meter run (5:29.84), and the 3200 meter run…

The CCA Patriots wrapped up the regular season Wednesday afternoon with a tough 8-3 loss to the Robert Toombs Christian Academy Crusaders in Douglas. The Crusaders used a six-run fifth inning to leave Coffee County with the win. Despite the loss, the Patriots finish the season with a 20-9 record (5-1 in region play) and a region championship. The also won two games earlier in the week, defeating Grace Christian Academy 4-2 on Monday and Westwood 10-3 on Tuesday. Wednesday, CCA was behind the eight ball from the start. The Crusaders scored two in the second then, while holding on…

A Coffee County drug unit detective made a traffic stop on a vehicle after learning the driver had an active probation violation warrant. As a result of the stop, the passenger was also arrested on methamphetamine charges. The incident report states that just after 11 a.m. on April 16, 2024, a detective was behind a vehicle at the intersection of South Peterson Avenue and Bowens Mill Road. The detective saw “certain things on the vehicle that led him to believe drug usage, especially methamphetamine, was used by the occupant(s),” according to the report. The detective ran the tag and it…

A Coffee County deputy arrested and charged two people with maintaining a disorderly house after receiving three calls from the location within an hour. According to a report from the sheriff’s office, a deputy responded to a report of a possible domestic dispute on Basswood Road. When he arrived, he spoke with the complainant, Maria Sanchez, 32, who said that her roommate, Jesus Perez, 25, had threatened her. The report says the deputy spoke with Perez, who said that Sanchez threatened him. The deputy told the two to look at different living arrangements if they couldn’t get along, the report…

A small airplane from Melbourne, Florida, made an emergency landing at the drag strip east of Douglas Monday afternoon. The plane suffered minimal damage but is not able to be flown from where it landed. According to flightaware.com, the plane is a Cessna Skyhawk C172. It lost engine power over Coffee County and had to make an emergency landing. The pilot glided for several miles before bringing the plane in safely to the drag strip. The plane clipped a power line at the drag strip as it landed. Crews are on the scene working on the power line. The pilot…

Senior Larenzo Harvey (shot put) and freshman Kahariyona White (300 meter hurdles) won individual region championships at the region track meet at Bradwell Institute on April 17. As a team, the Trojans scored 67.5 points for the meet. The Lady Trojans scored 80 points to finish fifth overall. Both teams will travel to Sectionals in Evans. Greenbrier High School will host Region 1, 4, 6 and 8 on May 4, 2024. Both teams will carry a combined team of 17 individuals to compete in eleven events. Harvey threw the shot put 46 feet and 7 inches while White won the…

The CCA Patriots clinched the region championship with a 5-3 win over the Southwest Georgia Academy Warriors Friday afternoon at Southwest Georgia. The win capped a great week for the Patriots that saw them win two other games by a combined score of 31-0 over Georgia Christian (15-0) and CHESS Academy (16-0). CCA is 18-8 and has three regular season games remaining. The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Patriots, however, answered two innings later with a four-run fourth inning. CCA loaded the bases in the fourth after a single by Case Snipes and…

A 29-year-old Douglas man is in jail after he allegedly crashed a vehicle after stealing it from a local Dollar General store. On April 14, 2024, the victim pulled up to the Dollar General on McNeil Drive and ran in to get a few items. He turned off his vehicle, a black 2002 Chevrolet Silverado, but left the keys inside, according to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department. When he came back outside about five minutes later, his truck was gone. The victim reported the stolen truck to 911 and a police officer arrived on the scene. The…