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DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I MAY 11,2022
Dawson News ► com dawsonville, GEORGIA $1.00
All of Jan. car break-in suspects ID'd
All four stolen vehicles, much of owners’ pillaged property recovered
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
“They thought they had got
ten away with four cars and
some stolen items, but what
they actually got was a whole
lotta warrants,” read a May 3
Facebook post from the
Dawson County Sheriff’s
Office.
In April, Investigator Kirby
and DCSO identified and
placed warrants on the fifth and
final suspect of the alleged
entering autos crimes that
occurred during a January
snowstorm.
They have taken out 248 war
rants on the three adult males
alone, in addition to juvenile
complaints on the two juveniles,
the post said.
Sheriff Johnson wrote in a
follow-up email that the charges
listed on those adult warrants
include entering auto for every
vehicle broken into, felony and
misdemeanor thefts by taking,
criminal attempt to entering
auto “for every vehicle that was
attempted to be entering but
was locked” and criminal tres
pass “for every residence that
the suspects entering vehicles or
attempted to enter vehicles.”
The three adults received dif
ferent, specific charges for
either possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon, possession
of a firearm during the commis
sion of a felony, financial trans
action card fraud and theft for
victims’ cards that were stolen
and used, identity fraud and
party to a crime, Johnson said.
All four stolen vehicles and
much of owners’ pillaged prop
erty have been recovered after
dozens of car break-ins on Jan.
17.
Both juvenile suspects have
been taken into custody and
transported to the Regional
Youth Detention Center.
“At least one adult is in custo
dy in another jurisdiction and
we are awaiting for him to be
transferred to Dawson County,”
Johnson added.
“If you’re planning on com
mitting a crime, Dawson
County is not the place you
want to come to,” stated the
May 3 DCSO post. “We appre
ciate all the hard work of our
deputies and investigators on
this case. Great job, Investigator
Kirby.”
“This case is a testament to
the success of agencies working
together to share information
and solve crimes,” Johnson
added. “We deeply appreciate
our community and the wealth
of information they provided in
these cases. We are extremely
proud of all of our law enforce
ment partners. Working togeth
er, we are making a difference.”
Soldiers make a splash
Photos by Julia Fechter Dawson County News
The first of one group of soldiers leaps out of a Black Hawk helicopter with his parachute during the 5th Ranger
Training Battalion's annual water jump exercise at Lake Lanier.
Ranger Training Battalion leaps into lake for annual water jump
Two soldiers land on the lake's waters in front of a guiding green flare.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Spectators young and old
eagerly gathered on the
shores of Dawson County’s
War Hill Park on May 5 to
watch parachute-clad sol
diers from the U.S. Army’s
5th Ranger Training
Battalion jump from heli
copters into Lake Lanier.
Thursday’s water jump is
an annual training exercise.
It’s a part of Ranger School,
which has three phases, the
“Benning Phase” at
Columbus’ Fort Benning,
the “Mountain Phase” near
the Dahlonega area’s Camp
Frank D. Merrill and the
“Swamp Phase” at Eglin Air
Force Base in Florida.
Soldiers have taken part in
the annual training exercise
for over three decades.
During the jump, army
personnel gave a first-per
son view of soldiers
descending from a UH-60
Black Hawk helicopter.
Sixteen groups of six sol
diers took turns jumping out
of two helicopters.
Participants loaded up in a
parking lot in front of the
boat ramps. Black Hawks
kicked up clouds of dust and
wind as they ascended into
the clear, blue sky. Pilots
took the helicopters in a
loop, later flying straight
across a portion of the lake.
Soldiers jumped out of
the aircraft in formation,
with colorful flares from a
boat below helping them
know which direction to
turn to be in tandem with
the wind. A boat met each
soldier after they made con
tact with the water.
The enthusiasm of civil
ians and military members
alike showed that the event
was another way for people
to come together in the lake-
area community.
Program
serves almost
100 kids with
dental care
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Recently, the Help a Child Smile program
visited the Dawson County School System,
helping to bring free dental care to almost
100 children in the district.
In a presentation to the Dawson County
Board of Education during the board’s May 3
meeting, Executive Director of Instructional
Support and Student Services Janice Darnell
explained that there are several reasons chil
dren may participate in the Help a Child
Smile program, including a lack of transpor
tation to get to a dentist, the parent not having
time off work to take the child to an appoint
ment, or a family not being able to find a
dentist that takes Medicaid.
Because of all these reasons and more,
Help a Child Smile is a statewide program
established in 1994 and aimed at providing
free dental care to children in school who are
in need of it. Through the program, volunteer
dentists travel to hundreds of schools across
the state in a bus designed to be a mobile
dentist’s office, providing dental care from
basic cleanings and exams to fillings and
See Dental 13A
Upgrades at
Racing Hall
of Fame OKd
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
During the May 2 meeting of the
Dawsonville City Council, council mem
bers voted to approve a request for pro
posed improvements to the winner’s circle
outside of the Georgia Racing Hall of
Fame.
The request was first brought before the
city council earlier this year, and the deci
sion was tabled from the March 31 council
meeting to allow museum leadership to
consult with an engineer and further
research what all the addition would entail.
In a presentation to the mayor and coun
cil members at Monday’s meeting, muse
um director Cindy Elliott explained that
she and other museum leadership have
amended their original request, which
included the proposed addition of a cov
ered portico, after doing more research on
their options.
“Looking at material costs right now
everything is so high, I think it might be
cost-prohibitive for us to try to build a per
manent structure at this time,” Elliott said
to the council during the meeting. “So I’ve
gotten three different companies to work
See Council |2A
9 0 9 9 4
Inside
Volume 8, Number 18
© 2022, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Events
2B
Classifieds
6B
Dear Abby
4B
Deaths
2A
Legals
7B
Opinion
7A
Sports
1B
Dawsonville
kicks off Food
Truck Fridays
season.
5A Dawson High
L holds Future
Educator
Signing Day.
