Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
The Braselton News
Page 5A
Public Safety
Braselton PD
HCSO
Man tells Braselton police God
warned him about a UGA shooting
Braselton police received a
recent call from a Duluth man
warning of a shooting that
would occur at the University
of Georgia.
According to the incident
report, he said the police
“needed to be ready” and that
“this is what God told him to
do.”
Dispatch notified Athens
Clarke County and the Uni
versity of Georgia police of
the call. Braselton police lo
cated the man after an Uber
driver, parked at a gas station
on Hwy. 211, called about a
man “acting strange” in his
car, saying God was speaking
to him. An officer found the
man at the location, checked
him for weapons and asked
if he planned to carry out a
shooting at UGA. The man
said he did not but wanted to
warn the police before it hap
pened. He referenced a recent
shooting in Barrow County,
saying “God warned” him
about it, but he “didn’t listen
to the warnings.”
Asked where he was go
ing, the man said en route to a
church in Lawrenceville. The
officer spoke to a UGA police
sergeant about the incident.
OTHER INCIDENTS
Other incidents reported to
Braselton Police included:
•traffic stop on Friendship
Rd. where three juveniles fled
alter an officer attempted to
pull over a teen driver for a
taillight violation. The driver
reportedly did not yield after
an officer activated his lights
and crashed his vehicle into a
mailbox while trying to flee.
The teens then reportedly ran.
Police took two juvenile pas
sengers into custody at the
scene and later released both
to their parents. An officer
had contacted the Department
of Juvenile Justice, which de
clined to take either teen. Bra
selton police located the driver
the next day at school when he
told a teacher he’d run from
the police the previous night.
The teacher then informed the
school resource officer, who
contacted the teen’s mother.
•traffic stop on 1-85 North
where a driver was cited for
possession of marijuana (less
than one ounce), driving with
out a
valid driver’s license, failure
to yield to an emergency vehi
cle and headlight requirement
violation after being pulled
over for reportedly driving
without his lights on.
•drug investigation on Hwy.
211 where a driver was cited
for driving with a suspended
tag and possession of drug-re
lated objects during a traffic
stop.
•domestic disturbance on
Bald Cypress Dr.
where a woman said her son
was yelling and cursing, had
thrown a dresser
drawer and box fan and
punched a hole in a wall. His
mother later reported him
missing, but officers found
him at an Old Winder Hwy.
location.
•hit-and-run on Hwy. 53
where a driver reportedly
damaged two pumps at a gas
station with their vehicle and
left the scene.
•traffic stop on Hwy. 124
where a driver was cited for
possession of marijuana (less
than one ounce), expired li
cense plate decal and posses
sion of drug-related objects.
An officer searched the vehi
cle during a traffic stop after
reporting that it smelled like
marijuana.
•theft on Hwy. 53 where a
truck driver said his driver’s
license and credit cards were
missing from his truck after he
entered a gas station. He said
he believed he had left his ve
hicle unlocked.
•damage to property on
Hwy. 53 where a woman said
a FedEx driver knocked off
and damaged a post affixed to
her home.
•drug investigation on 1-85
North where a driver was
cited for possession of mari
juana (less than one ounce),
speeding and driving with a
suspended driver’s license
during a traffic stop. The mar
ijuana was reportedly found
during a search of the car after
an officer noted an odor of the
substance coming from the
vehicle.
ARRESTS
Recent arrests reported by
Braselton police include:
•Alisha Dashawn Mitchell.
30. 1006 Campbell Rd., Ath
ens — battery. Mitchell was
arrested for reportedly punch
ing a co-worker in a business
parking lot following a traffic
accident.
West Jackson Incidents
Man drives into stop sign in Braselton
A man damaged a stop
sign at the intersection of Da
vis St. and Henry Braselton
Dr. when he reportedly
drove his vehicle into it. The
driver told a Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) dep
uty that he “didn’t see the
stop sign until he was on top
of it.”
The impact damaged the
sign and the vehicle’s front
tire.
The man was issued a
warning for failing to stop at
the stop sign.
OTHER INCIDENTS
Other recent incidents re
ported to the JCSO included:
•information on New Cut
Rd. where a man said a driv
er ran a stop sign and struck
the left rear of his truck.
•suspicious activity on
Links Blvd. where someone
reportedly sent $50 worth of
pizza to a woman’s home.
•death investigation
(non-murder) on Gold Crest
Dr. where a man reportedly
died from a bullet wound to
the chest. According to the
report, a suicide note was left
at the scene.
•dispute on Magnolia
Circle where an older cou
ple and their adult children
reportedly argued over the
couple’s living arrangement.
•dispute on New Liberty
Church Rd. where a wom
an said she got into an ar
gument with a woman who
walked onto her property
and searched for her dog.
•theft on Skelton Rd.
where a man reported miss
ing tools after his brother
used them to work on a junk
car. The man said his brother
and nephew, who was also
on the property, have drug
issues.
•information on Wicklow
Ct. where a woman said
someone accessed her credit
card information and bought
four cell phones with her ac
count. totaling $634.
•agency assist on Bill
Watkins Rd. where an older
female reportedly fell and
possibly broke her back. The
woman said she was OK
“and just needed help to get
up from the floor.” She re
fused hospital treatment.
•information on Moons
Bridge Rd. where a man
said people pushed over his
well house and entered his
grandfather’s old truck. Ac
cording to the deputy’s re
port, neither the well house
nor the truck appeared dis
turbed. The report noted the
man hadn’t taken his insulin
which may have caused him
to “see things that are not
there.”
•suspicious activity on
1-85 where a driver said an
other motorist might have
impersonated a police offi
cer. The driver said the mo
torist drove up behind him
on the interstate and flashed
blue lights for him to move
over. He said he moved over,
and the other vehicle, which
had no markings, passed
him.
HCSO Arrest
Hall County
investigators track
child rape suspect to
location in Kansas
A suspect in a sexual
assault case involving a
Gainesville girl was booked
into the Hall County Jail this
week after he was tracked to
a location in Shawnee Mis
sion, Kansas, according to a
press release from the Hall
County Sheriff’s Office
(HCSO).
Felix Barragan, 45, faces
multiple felony charges in
connection to assaults on a
female victim, who was un
der the age of 10 at the time
of the crimes. The suspect
and the victim are known to
one another.
The offenses are believed
to have taken place between
Feb. 1. 2020, and Jan. 15,
2023, at a residence on
Poplar Springs Rd. in Hall
County. The victim told a
relative about the assaults
last month, and the relative
made a report to the Hall
County Sheriff’s Office.
HCSO criminal investi
gators learned from fami
ly members that Barragan
had fled to Kansas. Barra
gan was taken into custody
with assistance from the
U.S. Marshals Service and
the Johnson County, Kan
sas Sheriff’s Office. He was
returned to Hall County on
Tuesday, March 14.
Barragan faces the fol
lowing felony charges:
•rape (three counts)
•sodomy/aggravated sod
omy (four counts)
•aggravated child moles
tation (four counts)
•sexual battery with a
child under 16(12 counts)
•electronically furnishing
obscene material to a minor
(two counts)
Barragan remains in the
Hall County Jail with no
bond.
Information
about MainStreet
Newspapers
About the newspapers:
The five MainStreet News
papers publications — The
Braselton News. The Mad
ison County Journal, The
Jackson Herald, The Bar-
row Journal and The Banks
County News — are printed
and delivered once a week.
•About delivery: The
newspapers are delivered
to the post office and, from
there, to subscribers’ post
office boxes or home mail
boxes. The newspapers do
not have “paper boxes” at
people’s homes and are not
delivered by carriers. How
ever. the papers are deliv
ered to newspaper vending
machines in various loca
tions across Madison, Jack-
son and Banks counties.
•About subscriptions:
Subscribers are sent a re
newal notice before their
subscription runs out. A
quick way to check to see
when a subscription ends
is to look for the expiration
date on the mailing label.
Online: Each of the
newspapers has its own
website BraseltonNew-
sTODAY.com, Madison-
JournalTODAY.com, Jack-
sonHeraldTODAY.com,
B arrow J ournalTODAY.
com and BanksNewsTO-
DAY.com) in addition to a
common website for sports
(MainStreetNewsSports.
com), obituaries (Main-
StreetObits.com) and a
combined site, Mainstreet-
News.com.
For more information on
the above items, or for oth
er details about the newspa
pers, call 706-367-5233.
Hall County man
arrested on child
pornography charges
Investigators with the Hall
County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO)
charged a 75-year-old Gaines
ville man with seven child por
nography-related offenses this
week, according to a press re
lease from the agency.
The HCSO inquiry began
on Monday, Feb. 27, when in
vestigators received a cyber tip
from the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC). The investigation
culminated on Tuesday morn
ing, March 14, when the HCSO
executed a search warrant at Alan
Neil Thur’s home in the 1400
block of Bluff Valley Circle.
Deputies arrested him without
incident.
According to the initial inves
tigation, Thur uploaded at least
one image of child pornogra
phy to a search engine on Nov.
7, 2022. He's charged with two
counts of sexual exploitation of a
minor for that incident, one each
for possession and distribution of
the image.
Thur faces five additional
counts of the same charge in con
nection with this week’s search
warrant. As deputies carried out
the search, Thur was viewing five
images of child pornography on
his computer. The GBI Child Ex
ploitation and Computer Crimes
(CEACC) Unit assisted in the
search, conducting forensic pro
cessing on Thur’s computer.
Thur remains in the Hall
County Jail without bond. The
case remains under investigation.
March 22, 2023 ~ Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS
1. Sections of a play
5. Staff musical notation
9. Rock TV channel
12. Afrikaans
13. Especially pungent pepper
14. Macaws
15. Short soloist song
16. Largest S.A. country
17. Auto
18. Resembling a rope
19. Old Italian money
20. Arugula genus
22. Huskier
24. Pre-Roman Europeans
25. Metal shackles
26. Arabian overgarments
27. University of Dayton
28. Member of U.S. Navy
building battalion
31. Inflexible
33. Ancient Persian
provincial governor
34. Article
35. Fallow deer
36. Barefaced
39. Small African antelope
40. Lower leg protectors
42. Poisonous hemlock
alkaloid (alt. sp.)
43. Noah-like ships
44. Arabic word for
miracle/sign
46. Social insect
47. Bast fibers come from it
49. Early TV comedian
Imogene
50. Sheltered side
51. Stain for studying
cell structures
52. Robin’s Friar
53. Contribute to
54. Glowing sign gas
55. Greek portico
DOWN
1. Oil obtained from flowers
2. Chocolate alternative
3. Formosan capital
4. Dragon killer
5. Trout-like fish (alt. sp.)
6. Ms. Minelli
7. NY Quarterback
Manning
8. Folder storage
9. Sunspots
10. Nerve pathways
11. Spanish units of length
13. Shouts out
16. Restricts vision
21. Pear-shaped
medieval fiddle
23. Writing implement
28. Tree juice
29. Spanish be
30. Reversion
31. Metrical units
32. 6th note
33. Like an angel in goodness
35. Spoke in a monotone
36. Old bucket
37. Responds to
38. Trial run
39.34470
40. Crease between leg
and abdomen
41. and Venzetti
43. Too
45. Maori war dance
48. Work the soil
9
10
11
14
17
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