CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson Damond Ladean Hewell, 44, of Hull, was arrested Wednesday afternoon when he was found outside an Athens liquor store. Officer Samuel Calderon reports that he was patrolling the high-crime area of Danielsville and Ila roads at about 4:45 pm when he noticed a car of interest parked at Norwood Package Store. The officer went to speak with the driver because of his criminal history, then saw that Hewell was in the back seat. When the man voluntarily disclosed that

By Joe Johnson A month before his trial began, Edrick Faust was offered a deal of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole if he would plead guilty to murdering University of Georgia law student Tara Baker. The proposed plea deal was made in a January 12th letter to Faust’s defense attorney from Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Kalki Yalamanchili. The offer was obviously rejected, as the trial got underway this week in the Athens-Clarke County Courthouse. I

The following was released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Jackson County, GA (February 4, 2026) - At the request of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, GBI agents are investigating a death in Jackson County. On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at about 11:15 a.m., the Jefferson Police Department responded to a location off of Fields Road in Jackson County after several citizens were searching near where a crash occurred on Sunday, February 1, 2026. On Wednesday, February

By Joe Johnson Asia Shantera Smith, 31, of Old Hull Road, was arrested Wednesday night by a police officer who stopped her car after seeing it swerve into the bike lane on Barnett Shoals Road, Officer Christopher Lukas said in his report that he determined that the woman had been distracted while driving because she was eating. “I observed Ms. Smith to have sauce on her fingers along with the strong odor of food,” he stated. The officer noted that when he asked Smith for her

Kyron Zarco Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office has released the following: ATHENS, GA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Desmontrez Mathis, Jayden Brown, and Dakious Echols have been convicted for the murder of three-year-old Kyron Santino Zarco Smith, who was shot and killed in a drive-by in Athens on March 8, 2024. Smith was watching tv on his couch at Hallmark Mobile Home Park when he sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. A nine-ye

By Joe Johnson A 59-year-old homeless man was arrested on January 29th after he assaulted a woman as she drove him to the hospital. The victim told police that she was driving Will Ingram from Tallassee Road to St. Mary’s on Baxter Street when he attacked her from the back seat. She said that he began by berating and spitting on her, then punched her in the head and struck her with a book. Ingram stopped the assault when they arrived at the hospital. Police located him on Al

By Joe Johnson Someone vandalized the Athens Confederate Monument in an apparent act of protest against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations. According to a police report, the marble obelisk that bears the names of Athens soldiers killed during the American Civil War was spray-painted in red with the words Fuck ICE. The damage was discovered on the morning of January 29th at the monument’s location on Timothy Place off Macon Highway. It had

By Joe Johnson A car crashed into Rent-A-Center on Lexington Road Tuesday afternoon, but luckily no injuries were reported. The incident happened at around 1 pm when a passenger car collided with a logging truck and then travelled through several lanes of traffic before crashing into the furniture store’s front display window. Traffic was reduced to one lane in each direction during the emergency response by police and fire personnel. The identity of the driver was not immedi

The following was released today by the Gwinnett County Police Department The Celebration of Life service and procession for Officer Pradeep Tamang, Badge #2741 are as follows:   Celebration of Life:      12Stone Church                                        1322 Buford Drive                                        Lawrenceville, GA 30043                                       Saturday, February 7, 2026                                       10:00 a.m.    Details regarding the a

By Joe Johnson A 57-year-.old homeless man was arrested Saturday morning at McDonald’s on Prince Avenue where he reportedly exposed himself to others in the dining room. Police said they responded upon receiving a report at 10:49 am about Carr sitting in one of the booths and removing a blanket to expose himself to diners. Management wanted to bar the man from the restaurant, but police took Carr into custody upon learning that the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office had a warrant

By Joe Johnson A homeless woman who was found dead last week outside of an Atlanta Highway business could be the second victim of the recent severe cold weather in Athens. The still-unidentified woman was found the morning of January 27th by an employee of American Pest Control in the rear parking lot of the business. There were no indications of alcohol or drug abuse, according to County Coroner Michael Eberhart, who noted that she died when temperatures were below freezing.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust and Advantage Behavioral Health Systems will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new REACH mobile treatment program on Monday, February 9, 2026, at 1 p.m. at the Danielsville City Hall in Madison County.   In 2024, the Trust awarded Advantage with $780,000 to develop, launch and staff the REACH mobile clinic program. The program offers medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, peer support, overdose prevention

By Joe Johnson Dexter Lenoris Maxey, 60, of Vineyard Drive has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to shooting at his wife three years ago. According to court records, the sentence resulted from a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office, Maxey had been arrested in February 2023 after he discharged a gun from within the car at Peter and Vine streets towards Veronica Maxey, his wife of 19 years, according to the arrest warrants. He was initially charge

Released by the Clarke County School District Due to the lingering road conditions from this weekend’s snow, all CCSD schools and offices will be closed Monday, February 2, in the safety interests of students, staff, and families. All after-school and extracurricular activities for Monday are also canceled.  This decision was made with great care after CCSD staff diligently drove throughout the entire county this afternoon and encountered areas of ice and standing water that

The following was released by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department On January 28, 2026, at approximately 7:35 p.m., ACCPD officers responded to a single-vehicle crash in the 300 block of Peabody Street. The investigation determined that a 2018 Toyota Tundra was parked along Peabody Street while the driver, George Whittenburg, a 21-year-old UGA studen of Austin, Texas, was standing outside the driver’s door. The vehicle began rolling in reverse, striking and rolling over

Issued by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City ...EXTREME COLD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST SUNDAY... WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills ranging from as cold as 15 degrees below in the north Georgia mountains to the single digits above zero in central Georgia. WHERE...All of north and central Georgia. WHEN...Until 1 PM EST Sunday. IMPACTS...Frostbite and hypothermia will occur if unprotected skin is exposed to these temperatures. An extend

The following was released this afternoon by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department On January 28, 2026, at approximately 7:35 p.m., ACCPD officers responded to a single-vehicle crash in the 300 block of Peabody Street. The investigation determined that a 2018 Toyota Tundra was parked along Peabody Street while the driver, George Whittenburg, a 21-year-old UGA studen of Austin, Texas, was standing outside the driver’s door. The vehicle began rolling in reverse, striking a

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department issued the following statement at 12:05 pm ACCPD: Deteriorating Road Conditions. Please limit travel to emergencies only. Update at 6:28 pm LACCPD: Icy Road Conditions: Roads are starting to ice over. Please limit travel to emergencies only.

By Joe Johnson A 77-year-old Athens woman lost $10,000 last week when she fell victim to a telephone scam. She told police that she received a call from someone purporting to be with Apple Pay informing her that a federal officer would be in touch concerning suspicious activity on her bank account. When the “officer” called, the woman followed their instructions to send a $10,000 wire transfer from her bank account. Steps to Take When Receiving a Phone Scam: Hang Up Immediat

By Joe Johnson Caroline Elizabeth Strong, 44, of Mitchell Bridge Road, was arrested on January 11th after police received complaints that she was naked in the drive-thru area of McDonald’s on Prince Avenue. When officers arrived they found Strong sitting fully-clothed on the ground. “I asked Strong why she had been naked a few minutes ago and she said she was a nudist,” an officer wrote in her report. Strong was arrested for public indecency and also barred from that McDonal