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BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020
Public Safety
TANKER ACCIDENT SHUTS DOWN HWY. 441 ON CHRISTMAS DAY
A tanker truck rollover on Christmas Day shut down Hwy. 441 and led to several homes being evacuated. On
December 25, at 8:24 p.m., Banks County Fire/EMS responded to 2519 Hwy. 441 North, near Berlin Road, Homer,
on a reported vehicle accident involving a tanker truck rollover. Upon arrival, public safety workers found
a single-vehicle accident, a gasoline tanker, that had left the roadway and rolled over in the drainage ditch
along Hwy. 441. The highway, both north and south bound, was shut down during the entire operation. The
tanker was hauling 9,000 gallons of gasoline and had ruptured during the accident. A total of 4,000 gallons
was discharged and was running down the drainage system along Hwy. 441. The driver of the tractor trailer
was treated on the scene and transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in stable condition with minor
injuries. Fire personnel diked the runoff in three directions and four homes were evacuated in the immediate
area due to the spillage hazard. Several cleanup companies were brought in to mitigate the gasoline spill and
remove the hazard. At 4 a.m., the incident was deemed safe and all lanes of Hwy. 441 were reopened to traffic.
The residents that had been evacuated were allowed to return to their homes and fire personnel checked each
residence for any hazards.
Two injured in
Christmas wreck
Two people were injured in a Christmas Day wreck in
Homer.
On December 25, 2020 at 8:08 p.m., units from Banks
County Fire/EMS responded to 290 Crowe Road on a re
ported vehicle accident with injuries. Upon arrival, public
safety workers found a single-vehicle accident where the
driver had struck a tree.
One patient, a female, had been ejected from the vehicle
and was transported by EMS to Northeast Georgia Medical
Center in critical condition. A second victim, a male, was
trapped in the vehicle and required extrication by fire per
sonnel. The patient was transported by EMS to Northeast
Georgia Medical Center in critical condition with severe
injuries.
The cause of the accident is under investigation by the
Georgia State Patrol.
Man charged with
aggravated assault
in shooting
13 charged by sheriff’s office
13 people were charged
by the Banks County Sher
iffs Office last week.
Those charged by the
sheriff’s office including the
following:
•Ricky Douglas Brock,
61, 3350 Hwy. 51 South,
Lula, child molestation.
•Jessie Leanna Pierce. 27.
2860 Goetz Drive, Gaines
ville, possession and use
of a drug-related object,
possession of methamphet-
amine, giving false informa
tion to a law enforcement
officer and possession of a
Schedule I Controlled Sub
stance.
•Brent Monroe Boling,
29, 1247 South Elm Street,
Commerce, probation vio
lation.
•Christopher Dan Hor
ton, 176 Spruce Lake Lane,
Thomasville, loitering or
prowling.
•Joe Paul Hulsey, 88,1533
Moccasin Gap Road, Lula,
driving under the influence
of intoxicants (DUI).
•Garry Leonard Bailey,
60, 177 Leachman Road,
Commerce, possession of a
firearm by a convicted fel
on.
•Dorothy Elaine Nunns.
57. 177 Leachman Road.
Commerce, possession of a
firearm by a convicted fel
on.
•Jose Vincent Sisneros.
25. 101 Mexico City Drive,
Alto, simple battery and ob
structing a person making
an emergency phone call.
•Michael Blaze Robbins,
30, 156 Sherwood Forest
Circle, Brunswick, 30, theft
by shoplifting and obstruc
tion of a law enforcement
officer.
•Christy Lynn Roberts,
32, 103 Bennett Road, Ho
mer. DUI.
•Ricky Dewayne Walk
er, 38. 304 Gaines Avenue,
Selma. Ala., disorderly con
duct, obstruction of a law
enforcement officer, terror
istic threats and acts and
criminal trespass.
•Raven Nickole Reichert,
21, 256 Friendly Mission
Lane, Cornelia, DUI.
•Julia Washburn Poole,
33, 116 Grand Oaks, Drive,
Clarksville, battery.
Free smoke alarms installed; batteries tested
If you are a Banks Coun
ty resident and need assis
tance installing or checking
smoke alarms, call 706-
677-1812 and Banks Coun
ty Fire & EMS can install
free smoke alarms or check
the batteries for you to en
sure yours are working cor
rectly.
•Almost three of every
five home fire deaths result
ed from fires in homes with
no smoke alarms (40 per
cent) or no working smoke
alarms (17 percent).
•No smoke alarms were
present in two out of every
five (40 percent) home fire
deaths.
•The death rate per 1,000
reported home fires was
more than twice as high
in homes that did not have
any working smoke alarms
compared to the rate in
homes with working smoke
alarms (12.3 deaths vs. 5.7
deaths per 1,000 fires).
•In fires in which the
smoke alarms were pres
ent but did not operate,
more than two of every five
(43 percent) of the smoke
alarms had missing or dis
connected batteries.
•Dead batteries caused
one-quarter (twenty-five
percent) of the smoke alarm
failures.
An arrest has been made
by the Banks County Sher
iff’s Office investigators in
connection to the aggravat
ed assault that occurred on
December lion Highway
63.
Bradley Dennis Payne,
52, of Sunshine Church
Road in Toccoa was charged
with aggravated assault on
the afternoon of December
23.
He is currently being held
at the Banks County Deten
tion Center.
A bond has been denied.
BRADLEY PAYNE
He is reportedly charged
with shooting at a woman’s
car as she drove on Hwy. 63.
Electrial fire reported
at Maysville home
A Maysville home received minor damages in an elec
toral fire.
On December 26, Banks County Fire/EMS responded to
350 Hembree Road on a reported structure fire. Upon arriv
al, firefighters found a single-family residence with smoke
showing in the interior.
The fire was quickly located in a wall and contained to
that area of origin. The cause of the fire is listed as a short
age in an electrical outlet and the home is listed as having
minor damage confined to the room of origin. The resident
was relocated with family members until the home could
be repaired. No injuries were reported.
Information given on getting burn permit
To obtain a burn permit in
Banks County, call 1-877-
652-2876 or online at www.
gatrees.org. Once you have
received
your permit number, call
the non-emergency dispatch
number at 706-677-1234 to
inform them of your permit
number.
It is unlawful to burn
man made materials such as
tires, shingles, plastics, lum
ber, household garbage, etc.
Permits are issued only
for natural vegetative mate
rials.
Burn permits are good
only for the day that they
are issued.
Fires should not be initiat
ed before 8 a.m. and should
be completely extinguished
before dark.
Please Recycle
This Newspaper
In Memory
Dec. 27,1932-May 7,1954
Killed by a
drunk driver
a
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