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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
Crime/Public Safety
Scene of arrest
Alton Lee Davidson was arrested in this wooded area near Yonah-Homer and other local law enforcement agencies. He is charged with aggravated
Road and Grant Mill Road after a search by the Banks County Sheriff’s Office assault, two counts of kidnapping and charges from Habersham County.
Assault suspect arrested after manhunt
An Alto man was arrested Friday night in a wooded area
near Yonah-Homer Road and Grant Mill Road following a
manhunt by the Banks County Sheriffs Office and other local
law enforcement officials.
Alton Lee Davidson, 43, was charged with aggravated
assault and two counts of kidnapping. Davidson also faces
charges out of Habersham County.
“At around 2 p.m. [Friday], Banks County deputies were
requested by Georgia Department of Natural Resources
officials to the area of Wilson Shoals Wildlife Management
Area,” said Banks County Sheriffs Lt. Carissa McFaddin.
“DNR advised that they were in the area when they observed
a white male chasing a female. They stopped to check the
welfare of those subjects and when they did the male subject
fled from officers.”
Deputies found two women at the site had been involved
in a “violent domestic situation” in Habersham County with
Davidson, McFadden said.
McFadden said that Davidson’s last arrest in Banks County
was for aggravated assault and burglary along with cruelty to
children and terroristic threats and acts.
Davidson has an active warrant out of Franklin County for
aggravated assault on a police officer, and Habersham County
has taken a warrant for him for false imprisonment.
TCSO arrests
Jackson deputies
announce 27 arrests
Commerce Police Department arrests
Police arrest woman armed and
'paranoid' from methamphetamine
A Commerce woman
believed to be under the influ
ence of methamphetamine
faces two charges after Com
merce police responded to
her Chestnut Street residence
to a report of armed intruders.
Dispatch advised that the
caller Kirstian Dianne Cas
well, 31, of 26 Chestnut Street,
reported two armed men in
the residence, just outside the
door to the bathroom where
she was hiding. The woman
said she was also armed.
Police kicked in the door
to gain entry but did not find
any intruders. Instead, they
found Caswell exhibiting very
slurred speech and other
symptoms officers felt were
consistent with the use of
methamphetamine.
Shortly thereafter, Cas
well’s live-in boyfriend
appeared. He told police
that Caswell had been using
meth the past few days and
had not slept in four days. He
also reported that on Sept. 30
he exited his bedroom and
she pointed a firearm at his
chest, saying someone was
in the house.
“He told me she had
been acting very paranoid
since using the methamphet
amine,” the officer wrote.
“He said that on Oct. 1 in
the morning time, when he
woke up he noticed that Ms.
Caswell was locked inside
the bathroom with her three
children.”
She also had the firearm.
One of the officers had
seen a young girl, later iden
tified as Caswell’s daughter,
on the front porch as police
arrived, knocking on the
door. He sent her across the
street to a neighbor’s house
for safety reasons.
Police contacted the Jack-
son County Department of
Family and Children Services
(DFCS). They also learned
that Caswell did not know
where her other two young
children were. Police ended
up sending out a reverse
911 alert, and before long a
woman arrived with the two
boys, whom she had seen
walking along Sam Brown
Boulevard near Millwood Sta
tion subdivision.
During a search of the
residence, police found piles
of dirty clothes throughout
the house, old food in the
carpet, spoiled food on the
stove, piles of dirty dishes on
the kitchen counter and an
open container of alcohol
on the kitchen table, in the
girl’s room, they found large
pieces of broken glass on the
floor, dog feces and plates
with spoiled food. In the mas
ter bedroom they found dog
feces under the bed. In the
bathroom, police noticed two
bullet holes in the bathroom
door. The search did not turn
up any illegal substances.
Caswell faces charges of
cruelty to children and unlaw
ful conduct during a 911 call
(false report of a crime).
DFCS took custody of the
three children.
Traffic Stop Leads
To Multiple Charges
A Commerce officer who
stopped a vehicle after notic
ing erratic driving wound up
arresting the driver for driving
under the influence of drugs,
violation of the Georgia Con
trolled Substances Act, drugs
not in their original container,
misdemeanor possession of
marijuana and an equipment
violation.
The officer saw the vehi
cle traveling west on Madison
Street, and when it turned
onto Spring Street it made “an
erratic move back westbound
on Madison Street,” so the
officer pulled it over.
The driver was Jenna
Nicole Dukes, 24, 113 Ash
ley Circle, Apt. 2, Athens. He
noted that she had great dif
ficulty finding her insurance
card, seemed confused and
had difficulty keeping her
eyes open.
When questioned, Dukes
denied having consumed any
alcohol or taken any drugs or
illegal medications, yet later
she admitted to consuming
an alcoholic beverage several
hours earlier and that she’d
taken three Xanax pills during
the day. She completed part
of a field sobriety test, but
when the officer asked for
permission to search the vehi
cle for a source of intoxica
tion, she refused.
The field sobriety test led
the officer to cite her for
DUI-drugs. She agreed to the
state-administered chemical
test of her blood.
The officer searched the
driver’s area of the vehicle. In
the cup holder in the center
console, he found a white
pill believed to be Alprazol
am. That gave him probable
cause to search the rest of the
vehicle, and he reported find
ing seven more such pills and
a small plastic bag containing
suspected marijuana.
The DUI charge is subject
to the results of the blood test.
Others Charged
Other people arrested or
cited by Commerce police
during the past week include:
•Timothy Joseph Scogin,
23, 122 Roy Howington Road,
Commerce, driving with a sus
pended license. The charge
came as an officer respond
ed to Mount Olive Road in
reference to a domestic dis
pute occurring in a pickup
truck. When police arrived,
the male in the vehicle took
off running for the woods.
A woman remained in the
vehicle. The officer heard
movement in the woods near
the intersection of Old Hard
en Orchard Road and Mount
Olive Road and loudly gave
orders for the person to exit.
Scogin complied. Scogin told
the officer he was not running
from Commerce police, but
because his girlfriend’s sister
threatened to call police. Dis
patch advised that Scogin’s
license was suspended.
Because the domestic inci
dent took place outside the
city limits, the Jackson Coun
ty Sheriff’s Office assumed
responsibility for that case.
•Chante Elizabeth Little,
28, 306 Pine Avenue, Com
merce, arrested by an officer
as she pumped gasoline at
the Valero convenience store
on Maysville Road for war
rants out of Jackson County
related to charges of aggravat
ed assault, cruelty to children
and criminal trespass.
The Jackson County Sher
iff’s Office made 27 arrests
over the past week. They
were:
• Stephen Robert Bunn, 28,
73 Hickory Way Maysville, fail
ure to pay child support.
•Mark Anthony Dow, 42,
616 Old Miller Road, Maysville,
two counts of failure to appear
in court, violation of the Geor
gia Controlled Substances Act
and a grand larceny charge in
Greenville, S.C.
• Danny Gower Parker,
44, 1171 Eaglewood Drive,
Statham, probation violation
and a probation violation
charge in Forsyth County.
• Keith Baker, 58, 472
Hogans Mill Road, Jefferson,
possession of methamphet
amine.
• Larry Davis Brooks,
63, 400 JD Brooks Road,
Hoschton, failure to appear
in court.
•Alejandro Cruz-Corona,
34, 4438 New Kings Bridge
Road, Athens, criminal tres
pass.
•Seannery Tierre Echols,
40, 261 North 4th Street, Col
bert, driving with a suspended
license.
•Thomas Gregory Mitch
ell, 39,1966 Ga. 11, Lot 9, Mon
roe, probation violation.
•Thomas Lee Sewell, Jr.,
35, 51 Jennings Lane, Nichol
son, probation violation.
•Andrew Justin Harris, 25,
3652 Allen Williams Road,
Gainesville, driving with a sus
pended license.
•Zachary Uriah Lord, 37,
981 Old Kings Bridge Road,
Nicholson, loitering.
• Russell Ray Passmore, 37,
4235 Autry Spur Road, Gaines
ville, failure to pay child sup
port.
•Jody Deon Thaxton, 46,
117 Greenhill Court, Maysville,
theft by receiving stolen prop
erty.
•Julie Ann Lord, 35, 473
Wilson Cemetery Road, Nich
olson, loitering or prowling.
• Salvador Chavez Rosales,
29, 1465 Ga. 29, Lot H-l, Ath
ens, failure to appear in court.
•Gene Barry Hathcock,
45, 54 Pinewood Drive, Daw-
sonville, failure to pay child
support.
•Terrell Ray Mahone, 25,
1207 Allgood Road, Stone
Mountain, probation violation.
•Wendy Foster Schwarz,
52, 3555 Club House Circle,
Decatur, obstruction.
•Wesley Edwin Smith, 30,
5425 Mountain Lake Terrace,
Gainesville, probation viola
tion.
•Joshua Cain Thomas,
25, 2245 Robert Hardeman
Road, Winterville, probation
violation.
•Timothy Lee Webb, 28,
8964 Old U.S. 441 South, Nich
olson, first-degree burglary
and misdemeanor posses
sion of marijuana.
• Dennis Wilson Whitlock,
62, Billy Dillard Road, Hull,
bench warrant for theft by
receiving stolen property and
giving a false name to law
enforcement.
•Brandon Michael Blair,
24,63 Fawn Court, Hoschton,
burglary and possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon.
•Zachary Stuart Foster,
24, 4214 Ga. 332, Hoschton,
burglary
•Kristopher Lance Hoop
er, 30,3795 New Kings Bridge
Road, Nicholson, driving with
a suspended license and
operation of a vehicle without
a current plate.
•Adrian Garcia Martinez,
30, 1040 Stoney Brook Road,
Forest Park, driving without a
valid license.
•Alexis Jair Portillo Jorge,
17, 207 Glenn Carrie Road,
Hull, driving without a valid
license.
The deadline for submitting news or photographs to this
newspaper is noon on the Monday prior to publication.
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