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 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

Released this evening by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office (Gwinnett County, Ga., January 26, 2026) – On January 23, 2026, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit arrested Brandon Walker in Lithonia, Georgia. Walker had active warrants issued by the Duluth Police Department for Statutory Rape, Child Molestation by Electronic Device, Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes, and Creating or Possessing a Visual Medium Depicting a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit C

M Released this evening by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office (Gwinnett County, Ga., January 26, 2026 ) – On January 23, 2026, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit arrested Brandon Walker in Lithonia, Georgia. Walker had active warrants issued by the Duluth Police Department for Statutory Rape, Child Molestation by Electronic Device, Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes, and Creating or Possessing a Visual Medium Depicting a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explic

By Joe Johnson With the Tara Baker murder trial just a week away, an attorney for the accused killer has provided the most detailed account to date of the UGA law school student’s death 25 years ago. The details are meant to contrast the slaying with an assault that Edrick Faust was previously convicted of committing that the prosecution plans to present as evidence in the trial that had been scheduled to start on January 26th. Faust was convicted of aggravated assault for an

Faust By Joe Johnson With the Tara Baker murder trial just a week away, an attorney for the accused killer has provided the most detailed account to date of the UGA law school student’s death 25 years ago. The details are meant to contrast the slaying with an assault that Edrick Faust was previously convicted of committing that the prosecution plans to present as evidence in the trial that’s scheduled to start next Monday. Faust was convicted of aggravated assault for an inci

Released today by the Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office At the District Attorney's Office, we believe in the existence of monsters, and things that go bump in the night. We strive everyday to hold them accountable, and remove them from the world. One such monster, Jason Edward Vaughn, learned his fate this week, in particular that he will never breathe air as a free man again. After being found GUILTY by a Madison County jury last year of Aggravated Sexual

Released this morning by the Gwinnett County Police Department (Norcross, Ga., Jan. 14, 2026) – Gwinnett County Police VICE Investigators arrest a 36-year-old for trying meet up with a 14-year-old female. On January 5, the VICE Unit conducted an ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) undercover investigation into a man who believed he was communicating with a 14-year-old female via the internet. Jonathan Dismang (36, McDonough) sent explicit pictures of himself and was req

The following was released today by the Gwinnett County Police Department (Lawrenceville, Ga., Jan. 9, 2026) – Gwinnett County Police Special Victim Unit detectives arrested a Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Deputy during an investigation involving a minor. On January 5, SVU detectives received a report where a parent had found elicit messages from an adult to her teenage daughter under 16 years of age. During the investigation, Rylee Willis (21, Stone Mountain) was identified as

By Joe Johnson Athens police recently encountered several people who were out to catch sexual predators. They came across one group at the QT on Atlanta Highway when investigating a report that they were following a male, stating that he was trying meet with w14-year- old. When they got there, police said they met with a woman from Lawrenceville and man from Hull “who told us that they had set up their own child predator blah blah blah sting operation.” The pair explained t

Classic City News has previously reported about the former cop being arrested for molesting and exploitating a juvenile female member. Now the United States Department of Justice has just released the following additional information: GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Former Athens-Clarke County Police Officer Amber Nicole Ferguson has been indicted on charges of production and attempted production of child sexual abuse material, possession of child sexual abuse material involving a mino

By Joe Johnson An Athens-Clarke County grand jury this week indicted a 42-year old man who allegedly assaulted a young girl over period and two years. When police arrested Daniel Lee Grier of Johnson Drive last summer police said that he’d been molesting the victim since August 2022. The grand jury on Tuesday charged Grier with three counts of child molestation, aggravated sodomy, and two counts each of aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery,. Grier rema

By Joe Johnson The United States Department of Justice will be prosecuting a former Athens police officer who allegedly molested female juvenile relatives. Amber Nicole Ferguson may have broken federal laws by sending videos of the molestation to someone in another country, according to Brad Smith the district attorney in Jackson County, where Ferguson allegedly committed the crimes. Ferguson was a patrol officer for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in January when

The United States Department of Justice has released the following ATHENS, Ga. – A Georgia man who admitted to sexually exploiting a child by sending explicit instructions for the abuse of a young girl over social media was sentenced to serve more than 21 years in prison for his crime. William Barnett, II, 33, of Athens, was sentenced to serve 262 months in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self, III, on Nov. 10,

By Joe Johnson A University of Georgia law professor is being investigated for allegedly not disclosing his HIV-positive status before having sex with an Athens man. According to police, the 23-year-old man reported that he met the professor through the Grindr social networking app in November 2024 and they had sex at the professor’s home. Police said the professor is being investigated under the state law that makes it a felony “for a person living with HIV to knowingly en

By Joe Johnson A University of Georgia law professor is being investigated for allegedly not disclosing his HIV-positive status before having sex with an Athens man. According to police, the 23-year-old man reported that he met the professor through the Grindr social networking app in November 2024 and they had sex at the professor’s home. Police said the professor is being investigated under the state law that makes it a felony “for a person living with HIV to knowingly en

T he The Director of the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency and his wife have been arrested on cruelty to children charges, more than a month after their son was convicted and sentenced for a list of rape and child molestation charges. The crimes were against three different girls of varying ages, all of whom were under the age of 18 at the time of the crimes, between May 2020 and December 2021. Bryson Bullock was 16 to 17 years old at the time of the crimes. followin

By Joe Johnson Osvaldo Zacaria Torres, 22, of Hull was arrested early in the morning of November 1st after he allegedly raped a 24-year-old woman in the Gatewood neighborhood of northwestern Athens-Clarke County. The person who called police said he was wakened by the victim yelling and responding officers had a difficult time waking up Torres, who was intoxicated, He reportedly told police that he had been with the victim downtown and after taking an Uber to her home she was

Photo by the Georgia Department of Corrections By Joe Johnson A former police officer with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department has apparently ended his campaign for a seat on the county commission. Only a day after Classic City News published a story about his candidacy the campaign website for 37-year-old Kristin Matthew Ward went dark. The Flagpole has reported that Ward issued a statement confirming that he had dropped out of the race to represent District 5 on th

By Joe Johnson A 37-year-old woman reported last week that she had been raped in an encampment off Old Hull Road. The assault happened inside a tent, she told police, where she “felt paralyzed and could not say no” to the suspect. The victim said that the suspect was smoking methamphetamine that he blew into her face, but she didn’t do any drugs. The woman’s allegations were referred to Criminal Investigations Division detectives.