Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
. FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, Aprii it, 2004
Sheriff promotes Giordano to
911 communications director
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
A longtime Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office
employee recently was named
911 Communications Dir
ector, the Sheriff’s Office
reported.
When Miles Butler
resigned from the director’s
position in February, assistant
director Pat Giordano served
as interim director.
On March 24, Giordano
was hired permanently as the
director of the 911 center.
"Pat has a vast experience
in 911 operations and we’re
sure she’ll lead us through the
transition as we move from
our current system to the 800
MHz system,’’ Capt. Frank
Huggins said on behalf of
Sheriff Ted Paxton, who was
not available for comment.
The Forsyth County Board
of Commissioners made an
agreement with Motorola to
buy the new public safety
communications system.
The 800 MHz system will
ease the exchange of informa
tion between the Forsyth
County 911 center and out-of
county agencies during a large
scale emergency.
“It’s something we’ve
needed for a long time and
Incident re
Editor 's note: The follow
ing items are taken from
reports on file with the Forsyth
County Sheriff's Office and
Cumming Police Department.
Police chase: A Buford
man is accused of stealing an
SUV from the driveway of a
Cumming residence, then
leading officers on a wild
chase through Dawson and
Lumpkin counties.
Paul Houston Trammell.
43, was charged by the
Cumming Police Department
with theft by taking a motor
vehicle in connection with the
case.
Trammell allegedly stole a
1996 Jeep Cherokee from a
residence on Pilgrim Way on
March 20. Police registered
the vehicle as stolen and
received a break in the case on
March 22 when a Dawson
County resident summoned
police to her home. The
woman complained about a
man standing outside his SUV
and drinking in her driveway.
When a Dawson County
deputy arrived, the man
hopped into his SUV and led
police on a chase into
Lumpkin County. The man
eventually ditched the SUV
and escaped on foot into the
woods.
Forsyth County deputies
later located and arrested
Trammell, lodging an addi
tional charge against him for
obstruction of a law enforce
ment officer. Trammell
remained in custody at the
county jail on April 8.
Phony money: A man
attempted to use a phony S2O
bill to pay for cigarettes and a
soda at a Chevron gas station,
1620 Buford Dam Rd., on the
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Pat Giordano has been with Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office for seven years.
I'm looking forward to it,”
Giordano said.
Giordano, 43, began her
career in 911 communications
in 1986 in Martin County. Fla.
She worked there for eight
years, in Hall County for three
orts
evening of April 8. The clerk
marked the bill with a special
marker used to detect fake
bills, then confiscated the bill,
according to a Forsyth County
sheriff's report. The suspect
reportedly was overhead
telling a companion on the
way out of the business, “It
didn't work.”
Gas station break-in:
Forsyth County detectives are
investigating an April 7 break
in at a Citgo gas station. An
alarm summoned deputies to
the business at 2860 Old
Atlanta Rd. about 1:30 a m.
They discovered a rock was
used to smash a hole through
the glass front door. A total of
SSOO cash was reported stolen
from cash registers.
Drug charges: A
Gainesville man faces drug
charges in connection with an
April 7 traffic stop. Deputies
reported stopping a 1985
Mercury Cougar driven by
William Matthew Manry, 21,
at 1 p.m. at the intersection of
Dogwood Trail and Crystal
Cove Trail. Manry was
stopped because he was seen
moments earlier leaving the
scene of a house fire at 6420
Crystal Cove Trail, according
to the report.
Deputies located a duffel
bag inside the vehicle contain
ing two pills with “smiley
faces" imprinted on them and
numerous small plastic bags
with pictures of “alien faces”
on them. Small plastic bags
are commonly used to pack
age drugs, according to the
report.
Manry, who was not
charged in connection with the
fire, was charged with posses
sion of ecstasy.
years and has been in Forsyth
County for seven years.
Buller resigned in
February after being placed
on administrative leave while
the Sheriff’s Office investigat
ed a personnel issue.
Meth possession charged:
A Cumming woman faces
drug charges in connection
with an early morning traffic
stop on April 8. Vicki D.
Henderson, 46, was charged
with possession of metham
phetamine. failure to maintain
lane, driving with defective
equipment and driving with an
open container after being
stopped in her 1999 Nissan
XTerra near the intersection of
Hwy. 306 and Parks Road in
north Forsyth County.
Theft at library:
Cumming resident Anthony
Dale Gunter apparently was
not at the library on March 24
to further his education.
According to the Cumming
Police Department. Gunter,
24, was on a computer at the
Forsyth County Library, 585
Hwy. 9, on the evening of
March 24 when a woman sit
ting near him left her denim
jacket. The jacket contained
the woman’s personal identifi
cation and credit cards.
The woman called the
library staff the next morning
to report her jacket missing.
When the staff could not
locate the jacket and two days
passed, the woman reportedly
feared her jacket was lost.
An anonymous tip from a
concerned citizen led to the
March 29 arrest of Gunter for
theft by taking, said Capt.
Frank Goss, head of criminal
investigations.
The crime is a misde
meanor punishable by a
$ 1,000 fine and up to a year in
county jail. Gunter, who is not
accused of using the woman's
credit cards, was released on
bond after his arrest.
The jacket was returned to
the rightful owner, Goss said.
County discusses Public Safety
Complex designs, fire escapes
Fromstaffreports
The Forsyth County Board
of Commissioners will consid
er awarding Hussey, Gay, Bell
and DeYoung of Gainesville a
contract worth $109,000 for
fire station designs that will
include a new public safety
complex.
The new complex would
house E9ll operations as well
as emergency training facilities
and fire department headquar
ters.
It would replace Fire
Station 12 on Settendown
Road where mold has been
Judicial system is offering
writers of bad check amnesty
From staff reports
Individuals who have been
charged with writing bad
checks can make arrange
ments with the offices of the
county district attorney or
solicitor to pay fines and resti
tution without fear of arrest if
they do so by certain dates.
“We're trying to reach out
to some people that we’re hav
ing difficulty finding,” Sheriff
Ted Paxton said Wednesday.
The following individuals
must contact Sheila Krueger at
the district attorney’s office at
(770) 781-2125 by noon on
Friday, April 16: Albert
Tire store burglars on the loose
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Cumming police suspect
the same people are responsi
ble for recent break-ins into
local tire stores.
The method used by bur
glars at Lanier Tire & Wheel,
104 Buford Dam Rd., on April
3 and at Bagwell & Mathis
Tire.lo7 Pirkle Ferry Rd.,
between March 6-9 is similar,
uning-Forsyth County
mber of Commerce
AH 7)
Business After Hours
Thursday, April 15, 2004
5:10p.m. - 7:10p.m.
Primary Sponsor:
H & H Staffing Services
Additional Sponsors:
Landmark Mortgages
Georgia Probation Management
Outback Steakhouse, Cumming
DCH, Inc.
Place: H& H Staffing Services
108 Colony Park Drive, Cumming
Directions: GA 400, Exit 14, West, Turn Right Hwy 9, Colony Office
Park is on the Right.
Cost: $5.00 RSVP Chamber Members \
$7.00 Non RSVP Chamber Members J
$15.00 Non Chamber Members
RSVP: fccoc@forsythchamber.org or via fax at 770-781-8800 or register on
line at www.forsythchamber.org
Be Seen At This Great Networking Opportunity!
\ /
www.forsythchamber.org
. \ . ■ \ . \ . -
found growing in the ceiling.
The board will discuss the
topic during regular business
beginning at 5 p.m. tomorrow
in the auditorium at the County
Administration Building.
4 In other business during the
regular meeting, the board is
expected to consider:
• A request from Slate Pro
LLC to rezone 1.95 acres
located on the east side of
Valley Lane in the Mountain
Valley Estates Subdivision
near the intersection with
Valley Place from agricultural
to residential with a density of
Brown, Mary Stanley, Irma
Bravo, Lakeisha Starnes,
Charlie Johnson Jr., and Tony
Stimpson.
The following individuals
must contact the solicitor by
Friday, April 23, 2004:
Richard Holland, Robert Holt,
Charlestine Jones, Thomas
Loftin, Maria Nunnally,
Gregory Phillips, Joe
Holloman, Jeannie Jackson,
Lauren K Laughlin, Jenny
Lonholm, Cheryl Oberleitner,
Laura Phillips, Connie Holt,
Charlie Harrison Jr., Mica
Lively, Lisa Morris, Idalia L.
Paredes, and Savajune
said Capt. Frank Goss, head of
criminal investigations at the
Cumming Police Department.
In both burglaries, the sus
pects forced their way into the
businesses and escaped with
an undisclosed amount of
cash. Both times they left
behind a tower of tires in front
of the doorways they forced
open.
The burglars apparently
used the tires to conceal
three units per acre.
• A sewer line cost share
agreement with Ashton Atlanta
Residential LLC.
• An upgrade of video
equipment in the auditorium at
a cost of $143,230 from
Design Builders Group of
Alpharetta.
• A bid of $72,725 from
Flex-Fab to construct fire
escapes at seven two-story fire
stations.
Also tomorrow, the board
will meet at 10 a.m. with
Atlanta Regional Commission
to discuss road projects.
Pocevicute.
The following individuals
must contact the solicitor by
Friday, April 20, 2004:
Deborah Poole, Missy E.
Roberts, Glen Schroedel,
Mery Stewart, Melissa Trimm,
Patricia Welch, Donn Riddell,
Heidi Roof, Dick Shipley, Eric
Stokes, Diana L. Turner,
Stephen Wilkie, Patsy Rider,
Victoria Sassa, Leonard Siket,
Edwin Stone, Amber Weaver
and Susan Yates.
“Rather than being physi
cally incarcerated, they can
come in and make restitution,”
Paxton said.
damage to the businesses and
to avoid detection by police or
passerby, Goss said.
“It looks at this time like
we’re dealing with the same
burglars,” Goss said.
In the burglary at Lanier
Tire & Wheel, the suspects
used a crowbar to partially
open a safe, then raked money
See BURGLARY, Page 7A