Author: Staff Reports

You’ve got to use those blinkers. On March 18, 2024, a detective with the Coffee County Drug Unit saw a gold Lincoln LS merge lanes on the Bowens Mill Road near the Willacoochee Highway without using a turn signal. According to an incident report, the detective ran the plate and saw that the vehicle did not have insurance. It also had a suspended registration. The detective stopped the vehicle and identified the driver as Kenneth J. Crandell, 42, of Douglas. During the stop, the detective searched the vehicle and found a few hydrocodone and oxycodone pills. According to the report,…

The CCA Patriots overcame a slow start against Coastal Homeschool Tuesday in Douglas to win 7-2 and improve to 9-5 on the season. The Patriots scored one in the second but fell behind 2-1 in the fourth. They tied the score at two in the bottom of the frame when Thomas Gentry scored on a Case Snipes ground out. CCA broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning. The Patriots loaded the bases with no outs when Blake Bryant drove in Tyson Crosby on a ground ball that Coastal misplayed. That gave CCA a 3-2 advantage with the bases…

On March 16, 2024, a Coffee County deputy responded to a local ATV park in reference to an assault. As a result of the investigation, Spencer Nolan Beasley, 32, of a Vidalia address, was arrested and charged with battery (family violence). According to the incident report, the call involved a male hitting a female. When the officer arrived, the report states that Beasley was at the front gate and said he did not hit anyone. He said that someone named Larry had hit him and wanted to leave. The officer spoke with the victim who stated that Beasley had hit…

A Baxley man remains in the Coffee County Jail after being arrested on several drug-related charges. According to a report from the sheriff’s office, on March 19, 2024, a detective received information that Tyler Reese, 29, of Baxley, was going to sell some methamphetamine on Namon Road. The detective and another officer went to 1301 Namon Road and saw Reese in the front yard. One of the officers approached Reese, who was on probation, and began speaking with him. While they were talking, the report says that Reese had two phones and destroyed them both. The report states that “a…

Sunday afternoon around 1 p.m., a shooting took place in Pearson that led to the Ware State Prison K-9 team tracking the suspect to a mobile home he was hiding under. According to an incident report from the Pearson Police Department, an individual who had been working outside reported hearing gunshots on Mancil Drive in Pearson. Then he said he saw a male in a yellow shirt come by who said his wife had showed up a trailer at which he lived with his girlfriend. The wife, the man said, began shooting at him. He told the witness he would…

A Jeff Davis County woman has been treated for an accidental gunshot wound. On March 23, 2024, deputies responded to a home in Jeff Davis County in reference to a female being shot in the back. When officers arrived, they discovered Vera Renee Waters with a gunshot wound. According to witnesses, her husband had been showing their five-year-old grandson how to shoot a .22 rifle at a water bottle in the back yard. After they finished, the gun had been laid down on the porch unattended. As Vera was doing yardwork nearby, the child picked up the rifle and accidentally…

For the second time in two days, a house fire claimed the life of someone in Douglas. Around midnight Monday night, firefighters with the City of Douglas Fire Department received a call of a fire on Taylor Circle in eastern Douglas. Firefighters responded and found a shed behind an abandoned home on fire. They were told that someone had been living in the shed. It didn’t take long to extinguish the blaze. As they were fighting the fire, the male who lived in the shed was found deceased near the shed. The state fire marshal is investigating the incident to…

The Citizens Christian Academy Patriots have dropped three of their last four, most recently falling 3-2 to Lanier County Monday afternoon in Lakeland. On Monday, March 18, the Patriots lost to Trinity Christian 13-6. After scoring three in the second and two in the third, CCA held a 5-4 lead. However, Trinity Christian put the game away with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Patriots managed a run in the seventh but that was all they could muster. CCA bounced back on March 19 with an 11-1 win over Westwood in Douglas. The Patriots were leading 1-0…

A house fire claimed the life of a Douglas man Sunday morning. The Coffee County Fire Department received a call of a structure fire on the corner of New Forest Highway and Sunhill Lane. The call came in at 1:18 Sunday morning; within four minutes, units were on the scene battling the blaze. The home, a single wide trailer, suffered extensive damage inside. There was one occupant in the trailer, identified as Gerald Arnold of Douglas. The fire claimed Arnold’s life. According to county fire chief Steve Carver, the cause of the fire remains unknown at this time. He also…

The Coffee Trojans bounced back from last week’s three-game series with the Greenbrier Wolfpack that saw them drop to two out of three and swept the Statesboro Blue Devils this week to improve to 15-3 on the season. In game one, the Trojans had no problems dispatching the Blue Devils. Carter McMillan had a big day for Coffee, hitting his first home run, a two-run shot in the sixth, and picking up the win with five innings of work. He gave up three hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and he struck out four. Michael Strickland also had three…