About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2022)
WEDNESDAY I june 1,2022 Dawson News ► com dawsonville, GEORGIA $1.00 Roberts arrested on new charges Defendant accused of killing Duckworth last year allegedly threatened teen with same thing’ By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com The defendant accused of kill ing 19-year-old Kaleb Duckworth last July has been arrested in Dawson County again. Daniel Lee Roberts was arrested by the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office the evening of May 20, 2022, according to the weekly arrest report. He was charged with one count each of making terroristic threats and aggravated assault. Roberts allegedly threatened a teenage victim on May 13 between 5-6 p.m. near Dawson Village Way North and Ga. 53, according to a DCSO warrant. He is accused of telling the victim to come to his resi dence, where he, Roberts, would “give him (the vic tim) the same thing he gave his buddy,” referring to Kaleb Duckworth. Roberts allegedly com mitted the assault against the same victim on May 19 between 1:10 and 1:20 p.m. near 1860 Dawson Forest Road, according to another DCSO war rant. He was driving his pick-up truck when he entered the vic tim’s lane of travel and caused the other person to swerve in order to avoid a collision. Roberts’ arrest came just eight days after his lawyers filed for a change of venue regarding the 2021 case. Earlier cases Prior to May 20, Roberts was out of DCSO custody on a $100,000 bail after the bond deni al for his 2021 case was reversed in December. Roberts allegedly caused Duckworth’s death because of a fight at the Dawson County Applebee’s on July 25, 2021. He has been indicted on two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery for that case. The indictment for that case alleges that Roberts punched the younger Dawsonville teen with a closed fist, causing serious brain damage. After the fight, Duckworth was taken to a hospi tal with severe brain trauma and died on July 27. When the incident with Duckworth happened, Roberts was out on a $20,200 bond for an aggravated assault case from 2019. Documents for the oldest case alleged that after getting in a ver bal disagreement with one victim, Roberts hit them while leaving a Dawson-area parking lot on Oct. 23,2019. After being arrested that same night, Roberts was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime and carry ing a concealed weapon and reck less driving. Following Roberts’ 2021 arrest, bond for the 2019 case was subsequently revoked on Aug. 31, 2021. Court documents from that time cited that he violated condi tions of the 2019 bond by alleg edly committing new offenses. Roberts C A jewel of a facility 5 Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News On May 27, state and local officials and community members gathered to break ground on the new Amicalola Falls State Park visitors center. Amicalola Falls State Park breaks ground on new visitors center By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com On Friday May 27, state and local officials and com munity members gathered at Amicalola Falls State Park to officially break ground on the new visitors center. During the groundbreak ing ceremony, several state and local officials spoke and then donned hard hats and picked up shovels to officially break ground on the long-awaited project. In his welcome and intro duction, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Deputy Commissioner Walter Rabon explained that the park, which has been around since 1940 and is one of Georgia’s most popular state parks, attracts up to millions of visitors each year with its amenities and through its connection to the Appalachian Trail. “It does serve as the main southern access point to the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail; the Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and is heavily traf ficked with an estimated 3 million visitors per year,” See Amicalola 13A Georgia State Representative Will Wade speaks dur ing the May 27 groundbreaking ceremony for the new Amicalola Falls State Park visitors center. County hires new public works director By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com Dawson County now has a new leader for one of its pivotal infrastructure depart ments. New Public Works Director Jeff Hahn was announced at the Board of Commissioners’ May 19 work session. His first day was May 18. He replaces former director Denise Farr, who undertook the position for about a year before retiring and leaving at the beginning of May. Hahn previously worked for the Brevard County government for 31 years before retiring in 2018, according to his resume provided by Public Affairs Officer Laura Fulcher. Hahn brings with him 22 years of experi ence in county administrative, management and supervisory roles. Most recently, he See Works 12A Rising property values impacts Dawson County By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com If you recently got a property tax bill in Dawson County, chances are that you owe a bigger chunk of change compared to last year. Among Dawson County residents and landowners, 82 percent saw a rise in resi dential property value, with that increase being an average of 19.8 percent. Individual homes or residential improve ment values rose an average of 21.5 per cent, said Kelly McCormick. McCormick Solutions assists Dawson County’s tax assessor’s office with analyt ics and revaluation details. See Taxes12A 0 9 0 9 9 4 Inside Volume 8, Number 18 © 2021, Dawson County News Dawsonville, Georgia Events 2B Classifieds 6B Dear Abby 5B Deaths 2A Legals 7B Opinion 6A Sports 1B 3A Dawson Chamber of Commerce celebrates 45 years. 5A Deputy, candle maker join to raise funds for K-9 foundation. LOOK TO NORTHSIDE A Community of Care on a Mission to Heal Learn more about our services at northside.com NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL
