CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson A 38-year-old Mississippi woman has been indicted for leading police on a high-speed chase while her child was in the car. Crystal Jean Bloodworth of Jackson, was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, felony fleeing from police, and endangering the life of a child, according to the indictment filed this week in Superior Court. The incident happened in March of this year, but the Athens-Clarke County police officials claims they are prevented by la

By Joe Johnson Marvin Frank Thompson III, 47, of Trailwood Drive in Watkinsville, was recently arrested in Athens for a DUI crash in which he offered the other driver $500 to not call the police. The incident happened at about 10:15 p.m. August 14th on Atlanta Highway where Thompson’s pickup truck rear-ended another vehicle. The responding officer said before arriving at the scene he was notified by dispatch that Thompson had tried to bribe the other driver. Still behind the

By Joe Johnson Brianna Morgan Hill, 26, of Loganville, was arrested last week by police who responded to a report she was screaming inside a vehicle for about 30 minutes in downtown Athens. Police said they received the 911 call at 2:49 a.m. on August 13th and when officers found the woman in her SUV on East Clayton Street they could hear her still screaming. They observed the vehicle pull out of a parking space before stopping directly behind the police car, with Hill conti

Joe Johnson Lisa Lynn Lagunas, 62, of Stonehenge Place, was arrested on the night of August 5th after a witness called 911 requesting a welfare check on someone who had been lying on the road and was attempting to drive. When police arrived they saw Lagunas parking a Jeep facing the wrong way on Marlborough Downs Road. “I observed Lagunas’s clothing to be soaked and dirty, she was covered in mud and had a small abrasion to her right knee,” an officer wrote in his report, fu

By Joe Johnson Cody Blaine Henderson, 35, of Louise Lane in Winterville, was arrested over the weekend after he told a police officer that he was guilty for a drunk-driving incident in which his truck hit a tree, The incident happened shortly before 11 p.m. on August 1st when Henderson drove his pickup truck into a ditch and tree on a side of Old Jefferson Road. He reportedly admitted to having drank four cans of Loko flavored malt beverage while he was driving. When a poli

By Joe Johnson Timothy Chad Gurley, 23, of Hull, was arrested early in the morning of July 22nd for allegedly driving drunk on the wrong side of the Athens Perimeter. A police officer reported that he was patrolling the highway at around 2:15 a.m. when he saw Gurley’s car stopped in one of the northbound lanes. When the officer stopped to investigate Gurley turned the car around and began to drive south on the northbound side of the highway, according to the report. “As I a

By Joe Johnson Sarina Avery McElreath, 28, of Jennings Mill Parkway, was arrested early in the morning of July 16th after she crashed her car while allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. Police said they were summoned to the scene on Mathew Avenue at around 3 a.m. when the incident activated the crash detection feature of McElreath’s iPhone which automatically dialed 911. According to police, the woman’s SUV overturned upon striking a parked vehicle. The accident r

By Joe Johnson Izalee Tasha Cooper, 32, of Vine Street, has been sentenced to five years in prison for a car crash last year in which her teenage niece was seriously injured. She pleaded guilty in Superior Court last week to driving under the influence of a controlled substance and causing serious injury with a motor vehicle . Judge H. Patrick Haggard gave Cooper a total sentence of 15 years, with the first five to be served in prison and the balance on probation, The crash o

By Joe Johnson A grand jury has indicted an Athens man on charges he killed a man when he crashed his car into the victim’s electric bicycle two months ago. Terrence Terrell White, 46, of Pittard Road, is charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the indictment filed in Superior Court on Tuesday. Police said that on the night of February 21st White was driving on Olympic Drive when his car struck from behind the e-

By Joe Johnson Jessica Vencherra Johnson, 40, of Stonybrook Circle, was arrested early the morning of April 20th when she was found passed out on the side of the road with a young child in the back seat of her car. According to police, the front of the car was in the grass and the back was on the road, with the engine still running. When officers looked inside the vehicle they found an empty vodka bottle in the driver’s side door pocket and Johnson’s 9-year-old son in the bac

By Joe Johnson A University of Georgia student has been sentenced to probation for an alleged drunk-driving incident in which his car struck and killed a man three years ago. Benhur G. Tedfai, a 23-year-old management information systems major, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge for the 2023 incident on West Broad Street that claimed the life of 34-year-old Michael Jerrell Kitchen. He entered the plea in an agreement with prosecutors after a Superior Cour

By Joe Johnson Sharon Dashun Warren was arrested for DUI last week after her car crashed into a light pole in the city’s Normaltown neighborhood, The 50-year-old Atlanta resident told police that she had just left McDonald’s after having finished her weekly performance at Boar’s Head Lounge, She admitted to having two martinis while at the downtown nightclub. The crash happened at around 3 am Thursday at the corner of Prince and Nacoochee avenues, where her 2017 Mercedes-Benz

By Joe Johnson Terrance Terrell White last year pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of oxycodone and was sentenced to 12 months on probation. The 46-year-old Pittard Road resident now is again suspected of being intoxicated on drugs when he struck and killed a man on an electric bicycle last Saturday night. According to police reports, White was driving a BMW sedan west on Olympic Drive when he struck the e-bike operated by 37-year-old Kul Chokhal of Barnett Shoals

By Joe Johnson Angus Stewart Moller, 61, of Double Bridges Crossing in Winterville, was arrested on the afternoon of February 16th after crashing his pickup truck into the BP gas station on Lexington Road, Police said that he appeared to be under the influence of drugs and that he failed drug impairment testing at the scene. In addition to his truck crashing into another vehicle at the gas station it struck the building, according to the police report. An officer stated in th

By Joe Johnson Zarius Jadaun Burch, 21, of Gainesville, was arrested early in the morning of December 20th after he was found passed out in his car at Thomas and Broad streets. Police said they responded to the area at 2:13 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from a witness who reported that “a male was asleep at the wheel and the vehicle was rolling down Thomas Street.” According to police there were passengers in the car who fled prior to the arrival of officers. They said that

By Joe Johnson An Oconee County teenager was recently arrested after he led police on a chase that began in downtown Athens and ended on the front lawn of a University of Georgia sorority house. The incident began at around 2:30 a.m. on December 13th when a bicycle cop was flagged down about a possible fight in the area of Jackson and South streets. When the officer arrived in the area he saw a car that appeared to be driving straight towards him. “Even as the proximity be

By Joe Johnson John Fitzhugh Orchard, 31, of Kennington Drive, has been indicted for vehicular homicide in connection with a drunk-driving crash last year that killed his passenger. He was charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, DUI, and following another vehicle too closely, according to the indictment filed November 4th in Superior Court. The deadly crash happened on the evening of December 17, when Orchard was driving a Toyota MR2 on Macon Highway and struck a Jee

By Joe Johnson Abdullah Thomas, 27, of West Broad Street, was arrested for DUI on the night of October 17th after he was seen dragging kudzu with his car through downtown Athens. Police stopped his car at about 11:15 pm on North Jackson Street, but it was unknown where he had driven off the road and into a kudzu patch and got vegetation caught up on the vehicle. The Hyundai Elantra had also left a trail of fluids as it drove through the downtown area, according to police. Th

By Joe Johnson Tommy Moore, 78, of Hickory Drive, was arrested for DUI Monday afternoon after driving his Chevy Trailblazer off of Moss Road in Winterville and plowing through some 60 feet of woods. Police said they found a bottle of homemade moonshine in the SUV, along with open and empty cans of beer, and that Moore reeked of marijuana and alcohol. He told police that marijuana would be found in his blood if tested because he smokes weed daily. He declined treatment by EMTs