Student with shotgun on campus placed on University probation
A student who was charged with possession of a weapon on school property last month has been placed on probation by the University's Office of Judicial Programs.
University Police found a 12-gauge turkey shotgun in a white 2003 Chevrolet Silverado truck belonging to Jess Stuart McNeill, from Americus, in late April. He parked on campus to attend an event after spending the weekend hunting and forgot the weapon was in his truck.
It is illegal to possess a weapon within 1,000 feet of school property.
Fraternity brothers' story differs from party guests
A University police report states alcohol could be obtained for those under the age of 21 and IDs were not always checked during a fraternity party last month where a Georgia College and State University student claimed she was raped.
The Athens Banner-Herald reported Saturday that Athens-Clarke police have yet to determine if the woman was sexually assaulted because the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's State Crime Lab hasn't completed its report.
But Phi Gamma Delta remains under investigation by the University's Office of Judicial Programs for violating codes of conduct. No ruling has been made by the OJP as of yet, according to Mitch Clayton at the University's office for open records.
Police say the cabbie who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman as he drove her home early Sunday morning is not the same man who posed as a courtesy van driver last fall, abducted two college-age women and raped one of them.
The suspect in Sunday's assault works for a licensed taxi company, unlike the driver from last fall, according to police.
A man in a marked yellow taxi van picked up the woman about 1:30 a.m. Sunday near East Washington and North Thomas streets, and she got into the front passenger seat because she thought friends had piled in behind her, police said.
Strong winds on Sunday toppled trees, downed traffic lights and knocked out power in many areas of Northeast Georgia, leaving workers scrambling to clean up the mess.
The wet soil combined with large gusts of wind put trees on houses and vehicles and left power lines sparking in the roads throughout Athens-Clarke County, said Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Glenn Cowan.
"Just about the time when we get one call cleaned up, we get another call," Cowan said.
Alcohol flowed freely last month during a University of Georgia fraternity party, where an underage student from another school claimed she was raped after passing out, according to a UGA police report.
Athens-Clarke police haven't yet found whether the woman was sexually assaulted, because the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's State Crime Lab hasn't completed a report on the evidence hospital workers collected from her, according to police.
Meanwhile, the UGA Office of Judicial Programs continues to investigate whether the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity violated the university's code of conduct concerning alcohol, officials said.
WINTERVILLE - A 71-year-old man was found dead Thursday in a pond in eastern Clarke County, less than a week after he moved from Griffin to live with his daughter, Athens-Clarke police said.
Police discovered Robert Hill's body in a pond behind a home on Hickory Lane, off Cherokee Road, two days after his daughter reported him missing, according to police.
Authorities won't know the cause of death until they receive an autopsy report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's State Crime Lab, Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Jerry Saulters said.
Police charged an Athens man Thursday in connection with two eastside armed robberies, days after they arrested him for allegedly holding up a westside convenience store.
Officers nabbed 19-year-old Jesse David Pierson and an alleged getaway-car driver soon after Sunday's robbery at a Golden Pantry on West Broad Street.
Pierson may have acted alone in the earlier crimes, according to police, who said he lived not far from two businesses he allegedly robbed in southeastern Clarke County.
A man learned the hard way that some sales are considered final.
James Junior Smith, 38, bought a rock of crack cocaine for $5 from women at East Broad Apartments about noon Monday, according to Athens-Clarke police.
When he told one woman he thought the crack was bad, she gave him back his money and apologized, according to a police report.
Investigators are studying whether two men arrested for the weekend armed robbery of a westside convenience store also may have held up two other businesses since late March, Athens-Clarke police said.
Officers used a witness' cell-phone photograph of the getaway vehicle - a pickup truck - to hunt down the men who robbed Golden Pantry, 2350 W. Broad St., about 8 p.m. Sunday, according to police.
Salathiel James Maynard, 17, and Jesse David Pierson, 19, each were charged with armed robbery, police said.
