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Thursday, February 1,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Man sentenced in years-long crime spree
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville man pleaded
guilty Tuesday, Jan. 30, to a
litany of crimes dating back
to 2020, including two armed
robberies and multiple stolen
vehicles.
Jacob Aviles, 22, was
sentenced to 15 years in prison
and 25 years of probation after
pleading guilty to armed robbery,
aggravated
assault and
stealing
vehicles.
Aviles was
given credit for
the 1,121 days
he had already
served in jail,
shortening the
time he could spend behind bars
by just over three years.
Assistant District Attorney
Brooke Jackson detailed the
litany of crimes spanning three
separate cases.
Aviles was first arrested Jan.
16, 2020, for an armed robbery
at the King Food Mart on
Athens Street. Aviles, dressed
in all black with a hood partially
covering his face, pointed a gun
at the clerk and stole $150. He
fled in a stolen SUV.
“There was surveillance that
was able to corroborate all of
this,” Jackson said.
On Oct. 6, 2022, while out on
bond for the first armed robbery,
Aviles robbed a Hispanic
laundromat on Atlanta Highway
and made away with $4,000.
“He went in and out multiple
times and was asking the store
clerk there if he could get change
and things of that nature,”
Jackson said. “A third or fourth
time that he came in the store, he
came with the firearm. Again, he
was dressed in all black, this time
had a hood over his head with a
baseball cap, and he threatened
this store clerk with a gun as
well.”
In a third case, Aviles stole a
man's car at a QT gas station on
Jesse Jewell Parkway while the
man was inside buying items,
Jackson said.
See Aviles 13A
Aviles
Getting the details
Photos by Scott Rogers The Times
Mohammed Sadiq speaks with attorney Jake Shapiro Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Hall County Magistrate Court
during his committal hearing for charges of electronic exploitation of a minor.
Investigators testify
about case involving underage sex sting
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Two investigators with the Hall
County Sheriff's Office detailed the
cases against two men accused of
traveling to Hall County to have sex
with underage girls through a sting
operation.
Mohammed Sadiq, 30, of Winder
and Dwayne Larry Drake, 38, of
Hull were charged with electronic
exploitation of a minor. Drake was
separately charged with trafficking of a
person for sexual servitude and sexual
exploitation of a minor.
Sadiq was released Jan. 20 on a
$7,900 bond, while Drake is being held
at the Hall County Jail without a bond.
The attorney for a third man, Billy
Cason Elder, 34, of Watkinsville,
requested a continuance.
Sadiq appeared in court Wednesday,
Jan. 31, with defense attorney Jake
Shapiro, while attorney Thomas
Church represented Drake.
Two investigators with the Sheriff's
Office detailed a Jan. 12-13 sting
operation aided by the Internet Crimes
Against Children task force with
Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents.
See Operation 13A
Dwayne Drake enters Hall County magistrate Court Wednesday, Jan. 31,
for a committal hearing for charges of trafficking of a person for sexual
servitude.
Firefighter
pulls driver
from truck
in wreck
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A rookie Gainesville firefighter was driving
to church Sunday, Jan. 28, with his daughter and
nephew when he witnessed a head-on collision.
“It was one of those things where I saw it, just put
it in park and got out and went into work mode,”
said Will Hubley, who is a few months short of his
second work anniversary with the Gainesville Fire
Department.
Georgia State Patrol said Michael Strickland, 63,
of Cumming, was driving a Chevrolet Silverado
north on U.S. 129 near Jess Helton Road, while
Kristin Kuchler, 33, of Clermont, was heading
south in a Honda Accord.
Troopers said Strickland around 8:30 a.m. Sun
day reached for a drink and failed to maintain his
lane, as Kuchler swerved to the left to avoid the
crash. They collided head-on near the center line,
causing the truck to overturn. The rear driver's side
of the Chevrolet hit a Ford F-250 driven by Jason
Hulsey, 53, of Clermont.
Hubley said he was able to remove the Silverado
driver from the truck “right before it caught on
fire.”
“As I was getting him out, it took off,” Hubley
said of the vehicle catching fire.
The firefighter said it was hard to estimate how
much time passed between pulling the driver from
the truck and it igniting.
“Thankfully, someone was on scene ... with a
fire extinguisher while I was assessing him and
then as I was starting to move him is when it reig
nited and then I pulled him away,” Hubley said.
“So I'd say by the time I got out, it was going
pretty good.”
After sitting Strickland up a safe distance away,
Hubley said he tended to Kuchler. While trying
to keep her alert, Hubley learned they were both
heading to Riverbend Church.
Hubley, 27, of Clermont, said he feels lucky to
be working for a good department.
“I really just acted in the same way that I would
hope somebody else would do if that was me and
my family,” he said.
Strickland and Kuchler were transported to
Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gaines
ville, with Strickland suffering minor injuries and
Kuchler suffering more serious injuries that were
deemed not life threatening by state patrol.
Hulsey and his passenger, Kathyleen Hulsey, 52,
of Clermont, were not transported.
The Times has reached out to Northeast Georgia
Health System for updates on those taken to the
hospital.
See Hubley 13A
5 new restaurants planned off Ga. 211 near Hall line
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Five restaurants appear
headed to a recently approved
development off Old Winder
Highway/Ga. 211 in Braselton,
just south of the Hall County
line.
Building drawings provided
by the town of Braselton to
The Times show Chicken Salad
Chick, Tropical Smoothie Cafe,
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Papa
John's Pizza and Maple Street
Biscuit Company.
Also shown in the drawings
is Sage Dental, which has loca
tions throughout metro Atlanta,
including Gainesville.
The tenants would be part of
the Liberty Village shopping
center, as part of three new
buildings with a total of 17,827
square feet at 3705, 3735 and
3745 Village Way.
The buildings will also be off
Liberty Church Road about a
mile south of Friendship Road/
Ga. 347 in Hall.
The nearly 4-acre site was
approved in October by Bra
selton Town Council, changing
previous plans that called for a
5,841-square-foot bank and a
14,951-square-foot pharmacy.
The shopping center now fea
tures several stores, including
S&S Ace Hardware.
All the eateries are national
chains with locations in
metro Atlanta. All but Tropi
cal Smoothie Cafe and Maple
Street Biscuit Company have
stores in Hall. Chipotle also is
planning a store at 3453 Mundy
Mill Road in Oakwood, across
from QuikTrip convenience
store.
The project's developer, C.
Parke Day of Parke Day Prop
erties LLC, couldn't be reached
for comment — nor could offi
cials with Chicken Salad Chick,
Papa John's and Maple Street
Biscuit Company.
A spokesperson for Tropical
Smoothie Cafe said, “While
we do have a location slated for
the area, we don't have a target
open date or any further details
to share at this time.”
And a Chipotle spokesperson
said, “We are currently sched
uled to open a new location in
Braselton in 2025. Those are the
only details I have to share right
now.”
