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Forsyth CountvNews J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J *GO DAWGS* Vol. 95, No. 042 Police impersonation alleged Cumming man in custody for posing as law enforcement By Colby Jones Staff Writer A Cumming man faces criminal charges for impersonating a law enforce ment officer after a real sheriff’s deputy spotted him at a local gas station in what appeared to be a police cruiser. Arthur Shannon Atkinson, 39, was booked into the county jail on Sunday afternoon on the felony charge, which carries a punishment of from one to five years in prison. Atkinson remained in custody late Wednesday afternoon. His bond was set at 53,400. The car driven by Atkinson aroused the suspicion of Sgt. Todd Maloney with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office at 2:45 p.m. at a Quick Trip gas station on Freedom Parkway in north Forsyth County. The car was a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria —a common model used by law enforcement with green stripes on the sides and a government tag. Atkinson was wearing black, police style pants and a dark blue shirt with the Students dance in celebration ' v / BA?’ ’A ’.* - i Photo/Audra Perry To celebrate the birthday of Father Marcial Maciel, the female students at Pinecrest Academy participated in dancing for their fellow classmates and parents. Maciel is the founder of Legion of Christ, a Catholic religious movement and philosophy under which Pinecrest Academy operates. GBI searches home of local political activist By Harris Blackwood and Colby Jones Staff Writers A local political activist is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for bribery in con nection with phone calls he made to a senior member on Gov. Sonny Perdue s staff. GBI agents from the regional office in Conyers on Wednesday afternoon executed a search warrant at the north Forsyth County home of political activist David Milum. The agents arrived at the home about 1:30 p.m. and remained for about two hours. Agents seized "items useful in the investigation” from Milum’s house at 4300 Jot Em Down Road, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead. Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126. Copyright 0 2004 Forsyth County Nows mn 90994 *O4OOI word "SECURITY’’| emblazed on the back ini bold letters, according! to the report filed by I Maloney. The sheriff’s deputy! reported he activated his I lights and stoppedl Atkinson’s car, in part,! due to the recent spate | of police impersonators conducting bogus traffic stops in surrounding counties. "1 then looked into the car and saw a black wallet with a silver badge on it between the seats in plain view," states the report. Atkinson is neither a law enforcement officer nor security guard, according to the report. The deputy located 14 business cards from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in the car. Atkinson was photographed at the scene before being transported to the county jail for booking. The badge, busi- The investigation relates to recent telephone conversations between Milum and an attorney on the gover nor’s staff whom Bankhead declined to identify. During the telephone conversa tions, Milum offered to withdraw an ethics complaint he filed against Perdue with Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker in return for the state agreeing to return children to a Lamar County mother in a child custody battle, according to Bankhead. The target of the investigation said he was not surprised when agents showed up at his home. “I knew it was coming,” said Milum, who was not charged despite the search. "I have inside people in See MILUM, Page 2A INDEX Abby. MeeMeeMeeMMMeeMeeMM IDA Church events 8A Classifieds 7B Deaths 2A Food ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••SB****** 6A Horoscope 10A Opinion 11A Spot tS MWMMMMaMMMMaMMMaWOTwI B FRIDAY March 12,2004 Atkinson Forsyth actress to appear at local premier of movie. Page 3A ness cards and photograph were taken as evidence. The arrest follows a recent spate of police impersonators in the metro area. Officers with the Lawrenceville Police Department last month arrested a 44- year-old man who was using police lights on his vehicle and police in Gwinnett and Cobb counties have been dealing with other reports of bogus cops. Forsyth County Sheriff’s Lt. Thurmond Atkinson, who is not related to the suspect arrested Sunday, said local detectives are conferring with law enforcement officials in other jurisdic tions about the impersonations to see if there are any connections. In response to the problem of people posing as police, lawmakers in the Georgia House of Representatives earlier this session strengthened the state’s law against impersonating a police officer by prohibiting the use of any type of flash ing light on a car for the purpose of caus ing the public to believe the driver is a law enforcement officer. I fr n " •■ . | Photo/Audra Perry Political activist David Milum finds GBI agents armed with a search warrant when he arrives at his north Forsyth County home on Wednesday afternoon. See what’s happening in local churches. PageßA V / Photo/Audra Perry Sheriff Ted Paxton poses with the marijuana and “ice" that was seized in a Sunday evening traffic stop. Man charged with possession of Ice’ valued at $84,000 By Colby Jones Staff Writer Local deputies seized 1-1/2 pounds of "ice" with a street value of 5X4.000 during a traffic stop on r Sunday evening on Ga. 400. The drugs were located underneath! dirty clothes in a laundry basket in the! back of the suspect’s 1995 Ford Explorer, I according to an undercover narcotics! investigator with the Forsyth County! Sheriff’s Office. A half pound of manjua- 1 na, packaged in eight separate bags, and an | undisclosed amount of cash was seized [ along with the “ice" —a crystal, potent form of methamphetamine. The driver of the Ford Explorer, Webster Hernandez-Lopez, was booked into the county jail and charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and following too closely. Due to the large amount of methamphetamine seized, Hemandez-Lopez could face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 years if convicted of the trafficking charge. Forsyth County Sgt. Scotty Spriggs conducted the traffic stop on the SUV driven by Hemandez-Lopez on Ga. 400 at Martin Road near the Forsvth-Dawson line. Lawyers: ethics accusations against county are baseless By Todd Truelove Staff Writer Partners of a law firm that is under contract to provide legal coun sel to the Forsyth County govern ment say a political activist’s accusa tions Monday that the firm is acting illegally are baseless. George Anderson of Rome went before the board of commissioners and accused the firm of charging “illegal" fees to provide county doc uments he had requested Feb. 16 under Georgia’s open records provi sions. Attorney Ken Jarrard. who is a See LEGAL, Page 2A Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level March? 1069.84 ft March 8 1069.85 ft March 9 1069.85 ft March 10 1069.89 ft Full 1071.00 ft High in the low 60s. Low in the low 30s. SPORTS, IB lies claw North Springs Hernandez - Lopez See DRUGS, Page 2A