Newspaper Page Text
8A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, September 5,2018
Arrest Reports
Aug. 27
Benjamin Eugene Cagle,
40, Athens: Two counts of
probation violation/felonies.
Lisa Marie Cooley, 39.
Gainesville: Probation viola
tion/felony.
Christopher Michael
Dulaney, 38, Dawsonville:
Hold for other agency.
Lucas Graham Thomason,
18, Duluth: Bench warrant/
failure to appear in court.
Aug. 28
John Alton Blackwell, 25,
Jasper: Lailure to comply,
probation violation/felony.
Bobby Rayburn Cray, 45,
Murphy, N.C.: Probation
violation/felony.
Caleb Anthony Ellis, 17,
Dawsonville: Simple battery.
Melissa Ann Nichols, 33,
Dawsonville: Bench war
rant/failure to appear in
court.
Robert Scott Sims. 26.
Dawsonville: Terroristic
threats, exploits/threatens/
intimidates a disabled or
elderly person, criminal tres
pass/family violence, pos
session of firearm/knife dur
ing commission of crime,
carrying a concealed weap
on, two counts possession of
a controlled substance, drug
related objects.
Aug. 29
Kevin Wayne Allen, 33.
Dahlonega: Probation viola
tion/felony.
David Lee Semler. 52.
Enid. Okla.: Probation viola
tion/felony.
Aug. 30
Andrew Patrick Durham,
29, Cumming: Driving
while license suspended/
revoked, failure to maintain
lane.
Brian Knox Forrester, 45,
Dahlonega: Here for court.
Samuel Charles Gooch,
36, Dawsonville: Failure to
comply.
Joseph Michael King, 34,
Gainesville: Theft by shop
lifting.
Kayla Danielle Morris,
23, Dawsonville: Exploits/
threatens/intimidates a dis
abled or elderly person, sim
ple battery against a person
65 years of age or older, bat
tery on person 65 years of
age or older, criminal tres
pass/family violence.
Randall Blake Parker, 29.
Dawsonville: Here for court.
Cody Robert Stephenson,
25, Alpharetta: Theft by tak
ing.
Tammy Lynn Swarringin.
45, Gainesville: Bench war
rant/failure to appear in
court.
Robert Jacob Ward. 27,
Dawsonville: Here for court.
Aug. 31
Shane Connor Elzey, 30,
Dawsonville: Aggravated
assault/family violence.
Michael Alexander
Erdman, 23, Jasper: Here for
court.
Anthony Michael
Hopeck, 19. Dawsonville:
Here for court.
Beshellima Mene
Huguley, 34, LaGrange:
Here for court.
Ariadna Alondra Ibarra,
20, Gainesville: Pedestrian
under the influence, fumish-
ing/purchasing/possession of
alcohol underage.
Anthony Perkins, 32,
Sandy Springs: Here for
court.
Devon Michael Reid, 20,
Dawsonville: Two counts of
probation violation/misde
meanors.
Ulises Ruiz Rodriguez,
18, Gainesville: Public
drunkenness.
Sept. 1
Zachary Blake Carlisle,
18. Dawsonville: Two
counts possession of a con
trolled substance.
Kate Hester Cravey, 49,
Dawsonville: Probation vio
lation/felony. possession of a
controlled substance.
Stephanie Lynn
Kaminsky, 29, Virginia
Beach, Va.: Theft by shop
lifting.
Bryan Keith Martin, 43,
Dawsonville: Battery.
Sept. 2
Homer Lee Davis, 75,
Dahlonega: Violation driv
er’s license restrictions, open
container violation. DUI/
alcohol, failure to maintain
lane.
Christina Marie Horton,
29, Canton: Hold for other
agency.
FROM 1A
Drug
Community agencies
including accountability
courts, local counselors,
law enforcement, the cham
ber of commerce and the
school system have been
gathering together through
out 2018 to discuss sub
stance abuse within the
county and what can be
done to address and stop
the growing problem.
Since 1999, there have
been 52 drug overdoses in
Dawson County with sub
stantial increases in over
dose deaths beginning in
2006.
In 2017, the county saw
six confirmed deaths by
overdose according to the
Dawson County Sheriff’s
Office.
Arrests for substance
related charges continue to
rise. In 2015 the DCSO had
86 arrests for possession of
a controlled substance and
97 arrests in 2016. In 2017,
72 arrests were made for
possession of methamphet-
amine alone and 65 arrests
for possession of marijua
na.
According to Sheriff Jeff
Johnson, the amount of
arrests in 2018 already
shows an increase in illegal
drug activity.
From January to June,
the DCSO has already
made 124 drug arrests: 67
for possession of meth; 40
for possession of marijua
na; 12 for prescription
medications; and five for
possession of cocaine.
“We are definitely on
track to exceed drug arrests
from prior years,” Johnson
said.
The east side of the
county, where Dawson
County is seeing the most
growth, is where Johnson
said his office is seeing the
most drug related activities.
“Drugs are typically the
catalyst for most other
crimes whether it be bur
glary or robbery, theft.
Typically it’s somehow
connected to drug use or
abuse,” Johnson said.
It’s a community issue
that affects more than just
those arrested, as Scott
Wilbanks, the local director
of the Family and Children
Services, explained.
Currently, Dawson
County DFCS has 43 chil
dren in either temporary or
permanent custody of the
state. Of those, 60 percent
are in care due to substance
abuse by their parents or
legal guardians.
“The truth is it’s proba
bly closer to 80 percent,”
Wilbanks said. “What hap
pens sometimes is a report
will come in because of
family violence so we get
involved and a kid might
come out of the home
because it’s unsafe for them
to be there - maybe both
parents got arrested so
that’s the way the report
gets coded. When we look
further into working with
the family there is an
underlying substance abuse
and there’s drugs or alcohol
issue in the family so that
doesn’t always get coded in
the system.”
The removal rate of chil
dren from their caretaker
due to drugs in Dawson
County is significantly
higher than the state aver
age of 42 percent.
“I’ve been with DCFS
for 12 years. I’ve been in
Dawson County for the
past three and in the past
three years the number of
reports have increased sig
nificantly,” Wilbanks said.
“The number of children in
care has increased ... it’s
basically tripled.”
In cases where children
are removed from their
homes, it is a traumatic
experience during a critical
developmental stage in
their lives and they have a
higher likelihood not to
complete high school, to
become homeless, to obtain
a criminal record and to
revert to patterns they saw
growing up, Wilbanks said.
Treatment Court
Coordinator Suzanne
Stanley also expressed con
cern of substance abuse
increase in the county as
more and more young peo
ple are being referred to the
accountability courts.
Though treatment court
doesn’t accept anyone
under the age of 18, refer
rals coming in for 17-year-
olds over the past two years
has shown an alarming
trend.
Businesses are also being
affected by the trend, as
Dawson County Chamber
of Commerce President
Christie Moore said that
many businesses have
voiced concerns over
potential employees abus
ing substances.
“What some of our busi
nesses are facing is the
choice of ‘do I hire these
employees knowing they
probably can’t pass a drug
test and just forego drug
tests’ or ‘do I drug test
them and know that maybe
two out of the five maybe
are able to pass it,”’ Moore
said.
Though drug tests are not
required by law, the cham
ber has been promoting
incentives and benefits for
businesses that participate
in the Drugs Don’t Work
campaigns and are commit
ted to being drug-free work
places.
Having one of the lowest
unemployment rates in the
region and lots of new busi
nesses coming into Dawson
County, there are numerous
opportunities for employ
ment yet employers are still
struggling to fill positions
based on the question of
drug testing. Smaller busi
nesses especially have to
weigh their options.
“That shouldn’t be ‘I
either have enough employ
ees and I don’t drug test’ or
‘I don’t have enough
employees.’ That shouldn’t
be the options,” Moore
said.
Places like the Goodwill
Career Center in
Dawsonville work to help
those with barriers seeking
employment.
“Substance abuse is a
great concern for our com
munity and the businesses
we help to find quality can-
didates,” said Vice
President of Career
Services Jenny Taylor. “We
are experts at workforce
development. We have
helped more than 100,000
of our neighbors in north
Georgia find employment
over the last five years. One
of the ways we have fueled
that success is by having a
focus on partnering well
with organizations whose
areas of expertise comple
ment the work we do to
support people looking to
make a positive life change
- things like transitional
housing, nutrition assis
tance, transportation and
substance abuse treatment.”
Across the board, com
munity agencies have seen
dramatic increases in sub
stance abuse and its effects
on the county that raise
questions as to what is
causing the dramatic
increase and why commu
nity members are turning to
substance abuse.
It’s a question that’s diffi
cult to answer.
“It’s not as clear as
defined as black and
white,” Johnson said. “A lot
of people self-medicate.
They’re looking for some
thing to help with the issues
they’re having so that
drives them to look for dif
ferent remedies so to speak,
escapes, so it’s very com
plex.”
Admitting that there is a
problem to address is the
first challenge as many
coalition members
expressed.
“Part of it is just the cul
ture in this area. It’s chang
ing but you still have the
belief ‘everything stays
within the family. We don’t
talk outside the family.’ I
think there is almost a
sense that if we start talking
about it it’s going to
become more of a prob
lem,” said Dr. Joe Stapp of
Blue Ridge Counseling,
who is also part of the
coalition. “Kind of a super
stitious feeling that once
you call it out then it’s
going to become a bigger
problem but there’s no evi
dence to show that’s the
case.”
Shedding light on sub
stance abuse, supporting
the accountability courts,
getting involved and not
turning a blind eye, under
standing that substance
abuse is not a victimless
crime and making agencies
aware of the problem are
ways the community can
help, according to
Wilbanks.
“Having compassion in
any situation I think it’s
redly important that mak
ing sure that both our busi
nesses and individuals are
aware of if you are a person
that has struggled with any
type of addiction whether
it’s alcohol, opioids, meth -
that there are people that
care, there are resources for
you,” said Moore.
For those wanting to get
involved and learn more
about substance abuse and
its affects, Friends of
Recovery is hosting the
second annual Drug
Awareness and Recovery
Expo at Dawson County
High School at 6 p.m. Sept.
10.
Editor's note: This is the
first article in a series
regarding the Dawson
Substance Abuse Coalition.
TQ FALL SAVINGS!
SPECIAL
EVENT
September 7-9, 2018
by Smith&Wesson
Shield
M2.0
9mm or 40SW
11812."mi S34D°°
Smith &Wfesson"
11521,11523,
11770,11771
Full Size
9mm or 45acp
$ 400°°
by Sm ith A Wesson
M2.0
Compact
9mm or 40sw
$ 400°°
11691
by Smith& Wesson
* Shield
M2.0
Integrated
Laser
11671 '
11673 °350°°
JKP.
by Smith&Wesson"
11663
380
Shield EZ
380acp
$30Q00
Smith&Wesson’
I Bodyguard
380
380acp
s 109381,10167 S 260 00
Smith&Wesson
Smith&Wesson
SDVE
9mm
$ 250°°
10201
H3
SW22
Victory
22lr
$3QQoo
Smith&Wesson’
ML
22
Compact
22lr
$280°°
jyo
■ VkWT by Smith& Wesson
15-22 Sport .22LR
n/&9
■ EbV i,y Sm ith & Wesson
Sport II .556
IKP
$30f)oo
10202
$525°
b, Smith&Wesson -
Bodyguard
38
38 spc
103039 $280°°
r
^Thompson/Center
America’s Master Gunmaker®
Impact -50 Caliber
10186680 $225°°
REGISTER TO WIN
September 7 th - 9 th
MP
9mm M2.0
iThompson/Center
America’s Master Gunmaker®
Impact -50 Caliber
10186689 $275®°
Locally Owned and
Operated
Since 1961
DA! W usispomiNc
argain Barn
four obtdponStQre & More!
Bargain Barn
Camp Road Jasper, GA 30143
706-253-9462
Sale price good for only in-stock items while supplies last
Not responisble for misprints
September 2018