Newspaper Page Text
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Deaths
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.
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»*«
Justin Lee Hayes
Justin Lee Hayes, 25, of
Cumming, passed away
Wednesday, May 21, 2008, at
Grady Memorial Hospital in
Atlanta. He was born in
Asheville, N.C., and soon after
moved to Cumming. He was a
graduate from North Forsyth
High School and LeCordon
Bleu College of Culinary Arts.
Justin loved to play soccer dur¬
ing high school. He loved to
show his creativeness through
food, art and music. Justin was
a loving son whom never met a
stranger. He lived life to the
fullest. His free time was spent
in his Christian studies, play
ing golf, drawing, painting and
spending time with friends,
After graduation he was a chef
at four prestigious restaurants
two of which he played a ,
major part in opening. His
present position was at
Firewater Chophouse here in
Cumming.
He is survived by his par
ents, John (Ted) and Cindy
Haves of Cumming; brother,
Adam Hayes, SGT, United
States Marine Corps of
Cumming; grandparents, Dell
Hayes of Asheville, N.C. and
Dot Ray of Asheville, N.C.
A Memorial service will be
held Tuesday, May 27, at 11
a.m. at McDonald and Son
Chapel in Cumming with
Pastor Tony McCollum offici
ating. A reception will follow
at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, please
contact Community Business
Bank (678-679-2580) and
make contributions to the
Justin Hayes Memorial
Scholarship Fund, 407 East
Maple Street, Suite 104,
Cumming, GA 30040.
Condolences may be
expressed online at
www.mcdonaldandson.com.
McDonald and Son Funeral
Home and Crematory in
Cumming is in charge of
arrangements.
Forsyth County News
May 25. 2008
T. Gerald Pittman
T. Gerald (Jerry) Pittman,
67, of Forsyth County, left
this earth to be with his
Savior and Almighty Jesus
Christ on May 20, 2008, with
his family at his side. He was
born in Idabel, Okla., March
11, 1941. He served his mili¬
tary proudly in the U.S. Navy
for 16 years. After the mili¬
tary, he was a computer con¬
sultant and retired from EDS
in 2007.
* Jerry is survived by his
loving and devoted wife
Wanda; sons, Ron and his
wife Sharia Pittman of
Atlanta, Charles Wesley of
Tulsa, Okla.; mother and
stepfather, Carmen and Gene
Melton of Jenks, Okla., sister,
Jeana and her husband Jim
Garrison of Sand Springs,
Okla., brother, Steve Pittman
and his wife Gloria of Tulsa,
Okla., granddaughter,
Darlene and her husband Jay
Byars of Roswell; grandsons
Adam Pittman and
Christopher Bechtler; and
one great-granddaughter,
Kamryn Pittman. Many lov¬
ing relatives, friends and one
devoted cat Samantha
Pittman.
Mr. Pittman was preceded
in death by his father, Erban
T. Pittman; daughter, Carol
Sue Pittman; and two grand¬
children, Charlie and Casey
Marie Pittman.
He loved to travel by
plane or RV. Being outdoors
was a passion. Hunting, fish¬
ing, taking a walk with his
wife or messing with his
vehicles outside the house he
would spend hours enjoying
what God had created.
Ingram Funeral Home and
Crematory in Cumming is in
charge of arrangements.
Forsyth County News
May 25, 2008
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Sunday, May 25, 2008
Cause of man’s death still a
remains found in mral Cherokee
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
Authorities still are not sure
what caused the death of a 31 -
year-old Forsyth County man
whose body was found earlier
this month in a remote area of
Cherokee County.
Capt. Ron Hunton of the
Cherokee County Sheriff’s
Office said it could be a couple
of weeks or longer before the
cause of Michael Brian
Four injured in car wash
mishap in southern Forsyth
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
Four people were injured
Wednesday when an
employee lost control ol a
van and struck two other
vehicles at a car wash in
southern Forsyth County.
The incident occurred
about 12:30 p.m. at
Executive Carwash & Lube
on Johns Creek Parkway,
Angel Perez Bardales,
43, of Norcross was charged
with driving with no license
after the 2001 Ford
Econoline Van he was driv
ing careened into the road.
Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Investigator Ron Tomblin
sa *d 4 appears that the trou
b* e started when Bardales
8 f 0t ’ nto ^ van t0 ta detail ^ e j 1
rom was t0
area,
He got in, accelerated
and went about 40 feet up a
bank and he made a right
turn P n ^e roadway,
Tomblin said.
As he made a right turn
on ^e roadway, he struck
the rear curb with his car
and sideswiped another car
as be was turning back into
LOSS from 1A
just lost his balance and fell.”
“My kitchen crew was in
such shock yesterday,”
McLendon said. “They were
trying to blame themselves,
but it wasn’t their fault.”
Hayes’ parents, John and
Cindy Hayes, said they are
upset with the way their son’s
death has been portrayed.
John Hayes said his son went
to the ball game with four of
his co-workers “to have fun
together.”
“I’m not going to deny that
he had a couple of beers,” he
said. “But like I told the
Braves (public relations
office) ... so he had a couple
of beers. So did probably half
of all the people in the stadi
um.
“All in the world he did
was go to slide down a railing
exactly like he does at home.
; .. And so he went to have a
little fun and slide down a lit¬
tle bit and he just ... he just
went over the rail. That’s all it
was.”
John Hayes said it “horrid
accident.
“But all that’s been played
up was he was drunk at a ball
game,” he said. “And that is
what’s disgusting us so
much.”
The father said his son was
a loving person and devout
Christian who enjoyed taking
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Benson’s death is determined.
“An anthropologist is exam¬
ining the remains in an effort to
determine if there is any sign of
foul play or any defects in the
bone structure or anything like
that to indicate if this person
was stabbed, shot, beaten, etc.,”
Hunton said.
“Right now, on the face of it,
none of that appears to have
happened."
Hunton said the situation is
suspicious, but there’s “just
the car wash. - ■
Debbie Sanfratello,
owner of Executive
Carwash, said the incident
was unusual.
“We have been here
about seven years and we’ve
never had anything like this,
so we are anxious ourselves
to get the investigating
report back,” she said.
Sanfratello said the busi¬
ness takes safety precautions
and that employees who
drive vehicles are supposed
to be licensed.
“We do require that they
have a license,” she said. “I
can’t be on top of them all
the time, if some of them
want to get in and move, if
the person who is supposed
to be moving the car is busy
at the time.
“But we do we keep a
file with a drivers license on
file and they are the only
ones who are supposed to
drive vehicles.”
The car that was side
swiped is a 2003 Hyundai
Accent. The owner, Roger
Bernier, 50, of Suwanee,
was treated for minor
injuries and released,
Tomblin said.
care of others. A graduate of
Le Cordon Bleu College of
Culinary Arts in Tucker, Justin
Hayes had interned at a presti¬
gious restaurant in West
Virginia before helping
McLendon open Firehouse.
John Hayes said his son
also helped McLendon open a
restaurant in Canton, adding
that he was “so proud of being
able to help open that restau¬
rant with Sean.”
Hayes’ father also
described his son as creative.
“He painted and he drew.
He played the guitar,” he said.
“He bought a piano to try to
play it, but he never did get
around to it.”
To Our Jvfen ^ TJomen
On ^Uniform » t •
Past, 'Present
Tuture
Gjod Pfess % 01A ttii
and Thank
y \ McDonald & Son
Funeral Home & Crematory
nothing to indicate how this per¬
son died.”
Benson’s body was discov¬
ered May 15 in a wooded area
on Avery Estates Drive.
Authorities said he was about a
half mile from Hog Farm
Circle, where the truck he was
driving turned up May 3.
Benson had epilepsy,
though Hunton said there are
no definite signs that he died as
a result of his condition.
It’s still not clear why
Tomblin said Bardales
continued through the park¬
ing lot and struck a Toyota
Sienna being vacuumed by
20-year-old Shannon Baudy
of Atlanta.
Baudy was flown to
Grady Memorial Hospital
for treatment of his injuries.
>. It’s (Baudy) that took a
very hard impact,” Tomblin
said. “He was almost
trapped between the two
vehicles.”
Sanfratello said she
expected him to be released
Saturday.
Tomblin said another
employee, 29-year-old
Marissa Nicole Johnson of
Dahlonega, was treated for
minor injuries and released.
The owner of the Toyota
van, 44-year-old Lynne
Purcell of Cumming, was
released from Gwinnett
Medical Center on Thurs
day.
Tomblin said Johnson
and Purcell were standing
outside at the vacuum sta
tion when the collision hap¬
pened.
E-mail Julie Arrington at
juliearrington @fo rsy th
news.com
Cindy Hayes described her
son as a fun-loving, easygoing
kind of guy who loved his
family and friends.
“His friends were all there
with him walking down the
steps and like I say it was just
a complete tragedy,” she said,
"It should not have happened,
but evidently God needs him
home more than he thinks we
need him here.
She said her son enjoyed
being a chef and helping oth
ers, as well as playing golf.
She fought tears as she
described the relationship her
son had with his younger
brother, Adam Hayes, who is a
sergeant in the U.S. Marine
Benson got out of the truck. It
was parked on a dead-end road,
but had not broken down and
still had gas in the tank.
Hunton said there is a house
close to where the truck was
parked, but the area around it is
heavily wooded and hilly.
“It’s not like he walked
from his truck straight to the
location,” he said. “We tried to
walk the area back between
where his body was and his
truck, and it’s a half mile as the
Police: Atlanta Highway
burglaries may be linked
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
Authorities think recent burglaries
at two Cumming businesses may be
connected with others in the metro
Atlanta area.
The thefts happened two weeks
apart earlier this spring at American
Radio and Forsyth County Pawn,
both of which are on Atlanta
Highway.
Some $80,000 to $90,000 worth
of stereo equipment and merchandise
was taken from American Radio early
April 28. The suspects also took about
$30,000 of equipment from the store
manager’s project Mustang.
The suspects who broke into
Forsyth County Pawn on May 12 led
authorities on a high-speed chase up
Dahlonega Highway before wrecking
and then getting away.
Cumming Police Chief Mike
Eason said jewelry and about 80
high-powered handguns were taken
from the pawnshop.
“We’re making some good
progress,” Eason said. “We recovered
everything, it appears, from the
Forsyth County Pawn shop, so there
are no guns that got on the street as a
result of that burglary.”
Both burglaries had unusual
twists.
Authorities found a child’s car seat
Corps,
“Justin was so very proud
of his brother that he would do
anything for his country and
this made him so proud,” she
said. “Every time he would
say the blessing when we ate
together he always asked God
to take care of those that w6re
protecting our country.”
She said Justin Hayes
always named his brother and
his best friend in those
prayers,
In addition to his parents
and brother, he is survived by
grandparents Dell Hayes and
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crow flies.
“But to walk it back you had
to walk two or three miles just
to get around things.”
Benson’s fiancee, Natasha
Lohman, has said he did not
have the medicine he took for
his condition with him when he
disappeared.
Benson, who had a construc¬
tion company, was last seen
May 2 leaving for a job site in
Cherokee County.
E-mail Julie Arrington at
juliearrington@forsythnews
.com.
y ? mism -
l
Walton of DeKalb County, later
turned up at Grady Memorial
Hospital in Atlanta.
Walton, who was injured in the
wreck, had reportedly paid an unsus¬
pecting Forsyth County resident to
take him there.
Cumming Police Investigator
Scott Burgess said Walton is being
held at the Forsyth County
Detention Center.
Burgess said another warrant
has been issued for the arrest of
30-year-old Julius Buchanan, who
also is from DeKalb County.
Eason said there could be as
many as two more suspects.
“Some of the property we recov¬
ered out of the vehicle tied into anoth¬
er burglary east of Atlanta,” Eason
said. “We also did a search warrant in
DeKalb County and recovered some
stuff that was stolen in several other
burglaries.”
Dot Ray of Asheville, N.C.
The family has asked that
memorial contributions be
made to the Justin Hayes
Memorial Scholarship Fund
at Community Business Bank
in Cumming.
A memorial service will
be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at
McDonald and Son Chapel
with Tony McCollum offici
ating. A reception will follow
at the funeral home.
E-mail Julie Arrington at
juliearrington@forsythnews
.com and Frank Reddy at
frankreddy@forsythnews.com.
Publisher JOHN HALL
Editor KEVIN R. ATWILL
General Manager NORMAN BAGGS
Advertising Director LISA FERRELL
Circulation Director GARRY TINSLEY
Production Director JEFF BUCCHINO
and the rear of a
sport utility
^ ! vehicle at Am¬
erican Radio
that they think
belonged to the
J suspects.
One of the
suspects in the
pawnshop bur¬
glary, 30-year-