About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2020)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition - August 29-30, 2020 5A Machete-wielding man accused of attacking man holding sword Brown BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man is behind bars after authorities say he used a machete to attack another man, who attempted to defend himself with a sword. Hall County Sheriffs Office spokes man Derreck Booth said Jody Todd Brown, 31, broke a car window and slashed a car tire around 1:20 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, in the 4000 block of Price Road. The car belonged to a woman who was previously in a relationship with Brown and who was visiting a friend at the residence, Booth said. Authorities said Brown then entered a shed and started removing items before he was con fronted by the 43-year-old man who lives there. “Brown is suspected of attacking the man with the machete as the victim attempted to defend himself with a sword,” Booth wrote in a news release. Booth said the man “had the sword with him when he came out of the residence.” Deputies arriving on the scene followed Brown in a car to another Price Road driveway, where he got out of the car and ran, Booth said. The deputies ran after him and ordered him to stop, authorities said. “When Brown failed to comply, dep uties tased him and made the arrest without further incident,” Booth wrote in the news release. The 43-year-old man was trans ported to a hospital for serious, non- life-threatening injuries. Brown also was evaluated at the hospital before being booked into the Hall County Jail, where he is being held without bond. Brown was charged with second-degree bur glary, criminal trespass and obstruction of an officer. More charges, including aggravated assault, are pending, Booth said. In addition to the latest charges, Brown had outstanding arrest warrants for domestic vio lence incidents in the county earlier this year, Booth said. “The March 8 and July 15 cases also involved the female complainant/victim from Monday’s call, which remains under investigation by the Sheriffs Office,” Booth wrote in a news release. Brown was charged with aggravated assault in the March incident after allegedly striking a 39-year-old man in the head with a wooden tool handle on Bark Camp Road, Booth said. Authorities said this happened after the man and another woman intervened in an argument between Brown and the woman from the Price Road incident. Brown also allegedly bit the woman July 15 “resulting in redness and a bite mark to the area of one of her eyes” on Patterson Lane, Booth said. The incident happened while the two were in the woman’s parked car, Booth said. Brown was charged with battery in that case, according to authorities. Magistrate Court officials said Brown has qualified for a public defender, but a specific name was not listed. Police: Shooting leads to discovery of 38 pot plants BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man is in jail after authorities say he shot his wife in the stomach, prompting respond ing officers to find 38 marijuana plants in his home on Cove Road. Police say Steven Noel Turner, 43, called 911 to report what he said was an accidental shooting around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the home in the 2000 block of Cove Road, off Thompson Mill Road. When Hall County Sheriff’s dep uties arrived, Hall County Fire Ser vices personnel was prepping the 42-year-old woman for transport to a local hospital, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said. He said the woman was in stable condition and her injuries were serious but not life-threatening. Booth said investigators later determined Turner shot his wife intentionally during an argument. While checking for other peo ple in the home, deputies found two marijuana grow rooms in the basement, Booth said. The Gainesville/Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad obtained a search warrant for the home and later seized 38 mari juana plants in “various stages of growth,” containers of THC oil and psilocybin mushrooms, Booth said. Booth said the estimated street value of the narcotics seized was roughly $50,000. Turner is charged with aggra vated assault, aggravated battery, manufacturing marijuana, pos session of THC oil with intent to distribute and possession of psilo cybin mushrooms. He was arrested on the drug charges Wednesday and booked into the Hall County Jail, where he is being held without bond. No attorney information was available for Turner Friday, Aug. 28, from Magistrate Court officials. Complex denied on Thompson Mill Road The Hall County Board of Commis sioners unanimously voted Thursday, Aug. 27 to deny a proposal for a 350- unit apartment complex off Thompson Mill Road in South Hall. The 31-acre lot near Spout Springs Road would have been rezoned from agricultural-residential to planned residential development for the proj ect, and the Hall County Planning Com mission had previously recommended approval for the development. The development had been pro posed by Atlanta-based developer TP A Residential and Gainesville firm Roch ester & Associates. Some speakers at Thursday’s meet ing said they supported the apartment complex because they saw the need for more housing for younger profession als in the area, but the proposal drew concerns from several area residents who said they were worried about over crowding, traffic and property values. “Single-family residential is nowhere near the impact as apartment rentals are,” Joy Basham of Braselton said. “... We cannot allow any more apartments on Thompson Mill. If this development were to be approved, how do you stop the next? It opens up Thompson Mill to be apartment row, and it will significantly impact the sur rounding single-family communities. ” Brian Rochester of Rochester & Associates, the Gainesville firm that was the applicant for the project, said Thursday the apartments would have been designed for millennials and active adults in the growing area of South Hall. “These are really a resort com munity, is what we’re presenting,” Rochester said. “They’re a class A multi-family. This is the highest-end development.” Megan Reed Hall County animal shelter honored for improvements MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com The Hall County Animal Shelter has been honored by an animal welfare group for changes that it says led to higher live outcome rates for the animals. The shelter has received the Transformational Change Award from Best Friends Animal Society, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to saving animals at shelters. In February 2019, the Hall County Board of Commission ers voted to adopt many of Best Friends’ recommendations, includ ing implementing a Community Cat Program and requiring appoint ments for pet owners to surrender their animals. Since then, the shel ter has made those changes and improved its live outcome rates. “The staff and volunteers at the Hall County Animal Shelter fully embraced these and other posi tive changes in order to reach and maintain a 90% live outcome rate,” Hall County Board of Commission ers Chairman Richard Higgins said in a statement. “I would like to per sonally congratulate them and this great community for their efforts in helping us achieve a transforma tion worthy of this distinct honor.” Best Friends conducted a no- cost audit for the county shelter in December 2018, evaluating shelter and field operations and compiling a report of the nonprofit’s findings. The report includes data from Jan. 1 through Sept. 20, 2018, when the county shelter took in 4,966 dogs and cats. The save rate for dogs was about 80%. For cats, about 41% survived. The county shelter publishes an intake report on its website. According to the report, which is updated monthly, in July, the shel ter took in 354 animals, including 198 cats, 141 dogs and 15 other ani mals. For cats, there were 162 live outcomes and 36 euthanized. For dogs, there were 130 live outcomes and 11 euthanized. For other animals, 13 had live outcomes and two were eutha nized. For July, the shelter had an 86% live outcome rate, according to that report. Best Friends praised the shel ter’s changes. “Hall County is a great example of how any county can achieve a high rate of live outcomes with dedicated leadership, community support and a shift in shelter poli cies,” Carrie Ducote, senior man ager of Georgia for Best Friends, said in a statement. “It’s through partnerships like this that the lives of countless animals can be saved.” The county shelter is located at 1688 Barber Road in Gaines ville. To make an appointment to adopt or surrender an animal, call 678-450-1587. The shelter is appointment-only as a precaution to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
