Across the area

Collision hurts pickup driver

• Photos

Back | Next

Back | Next

An Augusta man was severely injured Wednesday night after being thrown from his pickup during an accident on Gordon Highway, police said.

Michael Brandon Russell, 19, was traveling east at about 8:45 p.m. when he tried to make a left at Bayvale Road, striking a vehicle traveling west driven by Terral Edge, 26, of Augusta, said Richmond County sheriff's Deputy Wesley Stallings.

Mr. Russell was thrown through the rear window of his 1996 Toyota Tacoma, police said.

A passenger in Mr. Russell's truck, Dewey Brown, 22, of Augusta, was also injured, Deputy Stallings said.

Both men were taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital, and Mr. Russell suffered injuries to his neck and face, police said. Mr. Edge was not injured.

Mr. Russell is charged with failure to yield when turning left and no license or insurance, police said. Mr. Russell was not wearing his seat belt, Deputy Stallings said.

Cherie Foster wants her old seat on the Richmond County Board of Education back.

Ms. Foster, District 10 representative from 1992 to 2000, will challenge incumbent Helen Minchew after qualifying Wednesday at the Board of Elections office. Ms. Foster, the manager of Friedman's Jewelers at Augusta Mall, left the school board in 2000 during her unsuccessful bid to defeat Georgia Rep. Jack Connell.

She wants to return to the school board to develop excellence in education. "I have a proven track record, and I want go back to it," she said.

An Aiken man is in jail on weapons and assault charges in connection with shots fired at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center, police said Wednesday. Kelvin Alfonzo Moody, 19, of Lincoln Avenue in Aiken, was arrested on two counts of assault with intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime, said Aiken Department of Public Safety Sgt. Charles Barranco.

cars in front of the city recreation center at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Sgt. Barranco said. No injuries have been reported to police, and Sgt. Barranco said investigators are unsure about what caused the incident. Mr. Moody is being held at the Aiken County detention center.

Georgia Juvenile Justice Commissioner Albert Murray has chosen a psychiatric nurse with a background in corrections to head the soon-to-be-reopened Augusta Youth Development Campus.

John E. Brady headed a maximum security youth prison in Topeka, Kan., when Mr. Murray was commissioner of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority. On Wednesday, Mr. Murray named him the new director of the Augusta YDC, which is expected to reopen in November and hold about 110 boys who are among the state's most mentally disturbed juvenile offenders.

Mr. Brady is working as a psychiatric nurse in an adult and adolescent unit at Stormont Vail West, a mental hospital in Topeka. From 2000 to 2003, he served as superintendent of the Topeka Juvenile Correctional Facility

Two women told Richmond County sheriff's deputies that they were robbed outside a west Augusta church Tuesday night.

Mary C. Allen, 55, and Laura A. Grady reported that while they were in the parking lot of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church at 9:30 p.m., a man approached them and asked for the father of the church.

A police report states that the man attempted to grab Mrs. Grady's purse but failed to get it, then grabbed Mrs. Allen's purse instead. The purse contained $100, a cellular telephone and checkbook. The man fled in a dark, older model vehicle.

Federal and local authorities have arrested a man in Augusta wanted on attempted murder charges in Pennsylvania, according to the FBI.

Jarvae Chaney, 33, was arrested without incident Tuesday night at the Salvation Army soup kitchen, said Ed Reinhold, of the Augusta FBI office.

Agent Reinhold said Mr. Chaney was charged with two counts of attempted murder and with aggravated assault after a May 1 incident in Philadelphia, where police said he stabbed two people.

The federal agent said Mr. Chaney has family in Augusta, but authorities were not sure how he got to Georgia, because he did not have a vehicle at the time of his arrest.

Mr. Chaney was held at the Richmond County jail Wednesday pending possible extradition to Pennsylvania authorities, Agent Reinhold said.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was awarded a grant Thursday to upgrade its law enforcement communications network, which includes criminal records, U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings announced Wednesday.

The $641,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice is part of the National Criminal History Improvement Program that will help SLED automate record validation systems and expand accessibility to computerized databases that contain criminal records.

An Augusta man was arrested Tuesday night after a woman told deputies that he threatened to cut her neck with a steak knife.

Corinthes L. Blount, 55, of the 3400 block of Jonathan Circle, was charged with simple assault, simple battery and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, a police report states.

Janice M. Dukes told deputies that she got into an argument with Mr. Blount at 9:41 p.m., and he punched her in the face before taking a steak knife and holding it to her neck while covering her mouth.

Ms. Dukes said he cut her shorts instead of cutting her neck, and knocked her to the ground.

The report states that Mr. Blount fled from officers before he was caught by deputies at a nearby residence.

A 15-year-old Augusta girl told Richmond County sheriff's deputies that a man exposed himself while making an indecent proposal Tuesday afternoon.

A police report states that the teenager said she and a teenage friend were walking near Walton Way near Lancaster Road, when a man in his early 20s pulled up in a Ford Ranger and asked them whether they knew how to perform a lewd act.

The girl said the man exposed himself, and she went to the back of the truck to get the license plate number before the man sped away.

The teenager went home immediately to report the incident to her parents, and was able to get the complete license plate number to report to authorities.

A Louisville man told Richmond County sheriff's deputies that he was shot at while at a Blythe convenience store early Wednesday.

Louis I. Farrer Jr., 38, told sheriff's deputies that while he was at the Handiland convenience store on the 4700 block of Deans Bridge Road at 2 a.m., a man approached him and asked for directions.

Mr. Farrer said he gave directions, and the man got into a white sport utility vehicle and started to pull out of the parking lot.

He then said he heard a gunshot and felt the driver's side front door of his 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 shake.

Mr. Farrer said he saw one of the men with his arm out of the SUV's window, heading north on Deans Bridge Road.

All scheduled construction-related lane closures on area road projects will be suspended over the weekend to accommodate July Fourth traffic.

According to a new release from the Georgia Department of Transportation, work on state highways will be halted from Friday until Tuesday.

A portion of Stevens Creek Road in Columbia County will not be closed to traffic until next week, county officials announced Wednesday.

The closure, initially slated to begin Friday morning but now scheduled to start Tuesday, will take place across both lanes of the road just north of Ironwood Drive. It is expected to last five months as flood-control work is performed.

Drivers are advised to use River Watch Parkway, Furys Ferry Road and Evans to Locks Road as a detour loop around Stevens Creek.