Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, December 8,2021
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Man pleads guilty to assaulting officers in Jan. 6 breach
Kelly Whitmire
DCN Regional Staff
An Alpharetta man who was
part of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol
breach and was overheard dis
cussing the plans at Northside
Hospital Forsyth, has pleaded
guilty on Wednesday to assault
ing law enforcement officers.
According to a news release
from the United States
Attorney’s Office for the
District of Columbia, Kevin
Douglas Creek, 47 of
Alpharetta, plead guilty on
Wednesday, Dec. 1 to assault
ing, resisting or impeding cer
tain officers, “which disrupted
a joint session of the U.S.
Congress that was in the pro
cess of ascertaining and count
ing the electoral votes related
to the presidential election.”
He faces up to eight years in
prison as well as three years of
supervised release and a
$250,000 fine, and sentencing
is scheduled for March 10.
“On Jan. 6, at approximately
2:28 p.m., Creek made physical
contact with an officer from the
Metropolitan Police
Department by striking the offi
cer’s left hand, which was hold
ing a baton,” the release said.
“One minute later, he made
physical contact with a U.S.
Capitol Police Officer by plac
ing his hand under the officer’s
right shoulder and pushing. He
also kicked the officer. The
assaults took place in the West
Terrace area of the Capitol.”
Documents describe Creek
as having an Alpharetta
address, and information on his
business with the Georgia
Secretary of State’s Office and
Fulton County property records
indicate he lives in North
Fulton.
Creek was arrested on
Wednesday, June 9.
According to the criminal
complaint, on Jan. 10, a com
plainant reported to the FBI
that Creek had been at
Northside Hospital Forsyth on
Jan. 9 or 10 and made com
ments about his involvement in
the breach, including “running
up the stairs of the Capitol
building and attempting to get
inside, ... having trouble at the
door he ran to because the
police were gassing individuals
at his door” and that “he was
bruised from his activity at the
Capitol.”
Investigators were able to
confirm Creek’s identity and his
whereabouts in the days before
and after the breach through his
social media pages, comparing
photos from the incident and
the pages with his driver’s
license photo, hotel, credit card
and Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority records
and other methods.
During a voluntary interview
with investigators, Creek and
his attorney on Friday, May 21,
he reportedly admitted he had
traveled to the Capitol and that
the photos were of him.
“[Investigators] then played
videos of both assaults on fed
eral officers, and Creek admit
ted the videos looked like him,
but Creek said he ‘did not
remember assaulting any offi
cer,”’ the complaint said. “In
addition, Creek described in
great detail where he went that
day and drew on a map where
he was standing on the U.S.
Capitol grounds. Creek’s draw
ing matches where the body
camera footage captured
[Creek’s] assaults.”
According to the complaint,
when asked by investigators if
he regretted his action, Creek
responded “50/50.”
The case is being prosecuted
by the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the District of Columbia
and the Department of Justice
National Security Division’s
Counterterrorism Section with
assistance from the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the
Northern District of Georgia.
The case is being investigat
ed by the FBI’s Atlanta Field
Office and the FBI’s
Washington Field Office,
which identified Creek in its
seeking information photos.
Per the release, more than
675 individuals have been
arrested in nearly all 50 states
for crimes related to the breach
of the U.S. Capitol, including
over 210 individuals charged
with assaulting or impeding
law enforcement. The investi
gation remains ongoing.
This article was originally
posted by the Forsyth County
News, a sister publication to
Dawson County News.
Atlanta Gear Works expands engineering
team with its first Georgia Tech graduate
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Dawsonville-based
gearbox repair and manu
facture company Atlanta
Gear Works (AGW) has
recently expanded its
engineering team by hir
ing its first Georgia Tech
graduate, Corinna Draghi.
According to a press
release by AGW, Draghi
is not only the first
Georgia Tech graduate
the company has added to
its team, but she is also
the company’s first
woman engineer and the
first with a degree in
aerospace engineering.
After graduation,
Draghi’s first full-time
job was as a mechanical
engineer, working with
the inventor of the direct
ly driven centrifugal shot-
blast wheel, the release
said.
“Her responsibilities
include 2D- and
3D-mechanical design and
project manage
ment of custom-
designed heavy
industrial shot
blasting machines
used for finishing
structural rebar,
propane tanks,
heavy earth-mov
ing equipment
components and
other steel and aluminum
components requiring a
specific finish,” the release
said.
The release added that,
in Draghi’s previous job,
she also wrote reference
and maintenance manu
als, cost analyses and
multi-million dollar
quotes.
“I learned a lot about
hardware and grades of
steel and spent a lot of
time in steel mills,”
Draghi said in the release.
“All of that is applicable
to what we do at Atlanta
Gear Works.”
Draghi’s mechanical
engineering training start
ed when she was
young, according
to the release, as
she grew up in a
house with a
shop her father
operated in the
basement, manu
facturing label
ing and filling
machines for
chemical companies that
use bottles and conveyors.
“He built everything
from memory,” Draghi
said in the release.
“Ironically, what I didn’t
know as a child was that
he was also doing gear
box repair.”
Draghi joined the com
pany during the pandemic,
and since then she has
gotten her OSHA certifi
cation and was a speaker
on the Women in
Manufacturing panel at
the AGMA 2021 Motion
and Power Technology
Expo in Saint Louis in
September.
“I was impressed with
her mix of hands-on expe
rience, mechanical design
and CAD capabilities,”
AGW Vice President of
Engineering Chris Dale
said in the release.
“Rarely do we find an
engineer who has both
gear and gearbox experi
ence. Since we know we
will have two train them,
we look for someone who
is willing to learn and will
fit in with our family of
engineers.”
AGW designs, engi
neers, builds, rebuilds and
repairs heavy industrial
gearboxes for some of
America’s leading manu
facturers, the release said.
“It also repairs other
process-critical rotating
equipment and continues
to grow its field service
division to provide exten
sive field machining and
repair,” the release said.
For more information
about Atlanta Gear
Works, go to https://atlan-
tagear.com.
EARLY DEADLINES
FOR CHRISTMAS/
NEW YEAR’S DAY
Because of the upcoming holidays, Dawson
County News will alter its advertising and legals
deadline as follows:
Retail Display Ads
Publication
Date
Deadline
Weekday Edition
12/29
Wednesday, 12/22,3:00pm
Weekday Edition
1/05
Wednesday, 12/29,3:00pm
Classified Line Ads and Legals
Publication
Date
Deadline
Weekday Edition
12/29
Wednesday, 12/22, Noon
Weekday Edition
1/05
Wednesday, 12/29, Noon
Obituaries
Publication
Date
Deadline
Weekday Edition
12/29
Monday, 12/27, Noon
Weekday Edition
1/05
Monday, 1/03, Noon
DawsonCountyNews
DawsonNews > com
Will be CLOSED Friday,
December 24 & 31 in
observance of the holidays.
DAWSON COUNTY, GEORGIA
SCHEDULE OF PROJECTS CONSTRUCTED WITH SPECIAL PURPOSE LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX
Year Ended December 31, 2020
ORIGINAL CURRENT EXPENDITURES
PROJECT ESTIMATED COSTS ESTIMATED COSTS PRIOR YEARS CURRENT YEAR
SPLOST #4 - Commenced January 1, 2005
Jail Construction
$
11,500,000
S
19,433,679
$
19,433,679
$
Rock Creek Recreation Center
2,500,000
2,372,559
2,372,559
-
Emergency Services Projects
3,000,000
4,244,834
4,244,834
-
Administrative Facility Building & Land
2,000,000
1,915,196
1,915,196
-
Roads and Bridges
5.500.000
7.374.161
7,333,726
40,435
Total SPLOST #4 Projects
s
24,500,000
$
35,340,429
$
35,299,994
$
40,435
SPLOST #5 - Commenced July 1, 2009
LEVEL 1 COUNTY PROJECTS
Courthouse and Administration Building
$
50,000,000
$
36,474,488
$
36,474,488
s
-
Sheriffs Office
12,500,000
12,500,000
-
-
LEVEL 2 COUNTY PROJECTS
Roads, Streets, and Bridges
1 0,000,000
51,398
51,398
-
Recreational Facilities
5.000,000
400,000
400,000
-
Sewer Facilities
2,500,000
-
-
-
Library Facilities
3,000,000
-
-
-
Public Safety Facilities
3,900,000
-
-
-
Public Safety Equipment
500,000
1,977
1,977
-
Subtotal All County Projects
87,400,000
49,427,863
36,927,863
MUNICIPAL PROJECTS
CITY OF DAWSONVILLE Cl)
4,160,000
422,719
422,719
-
Subtotal All City Projects
4,160,000
422,719
422,719
Total SPLOST #5 Projects
s
91,560,000
$
49.850,582
$
37,350,582
s
SPLOST ttd - Commenced July 1, 201S
LEVEL 2 COUNTY PROJECTS
Roads, Streets, and Bridges
$
21,200,000
$
21,200,000
$
8,291,425
$
3,927,923
Public Works Facilities & Equipineut
2,500,000
4,062,993
3,876,903
186,090
Recycling Facility
100,000
100,000
Fire Station/Community Center
1,750,000
1,750,000
325,568
1,156,446
Recreational Facilities
4,067,000
4,067,000
3,250,846
250,366
Public Safety Vehicles & Equipment - Sheriff
3,883,000
3,883,000
2,228,417
381,328
Public Safety Vehicles & Equipment -
Fire/Emergency Services
2,500,000
3,234,720
1,963,070
1,271,650
Infoimationai Technology Equipment
350,000
1,769,789
579,999
1,189,790
Subtotal Ail County Projects
36,350,000
40,067,502
20,516,228
8,363,594
MUNICIPAL PROJECTS
CITY OF DAWSONVILLE (1)
9,650.000
9.650,000
6,018,234
1,477,410
Subtotal All City Projects
9.650.000
9.650.000
4,084,628
1,477,410
Total SPLOST tt6 Projects
$
46.000.000
s
49.717,502
$
24.600.856
s
9.841.004
(1) The County remits the tax collected to the City who
is responsible for reporting on the expenditures in accordance with OCGA 48-8-121.