Human remains found at apartment fire
Featured Stories January 16, 2023
CORNELIA, Ga. – Today, the Cornelia Police Department and Fire Department responded to an apartment fire that led to the discovery of human remains inside.
Earlier this morning, approximately 10:00 a.m., police and the fire department were called to 837 Main Street apartment D in reference to a house fire.
According to a statement released by the Cornelia Police Department, the landlord of the property first discovered the fire after they went to talk to the tenant and discovered smoke and fire damage outside of the property.
The landlord then entered the property using a master key to check on the tenant and called 911 after realizing the inside of the property had been burned.
“Upon arrival, the Cornelia Fire Department made entry to verify that the fire was extinguished. upon inspecting the residence, human remains were located inside. It was determined that the State Fire Marshall as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigations should be involved,” read the statement.
This incident is now an open investigation and has been turned over to the GBI.
Update: GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Habersham County
Community, News, Police & Government, Press Release September 14, 2022
UPDATE: The man involved in this OIS is identified as Anthony Maurice Tollison, age 39, of Mt. Airy.
ORIGINAL RELEASE:
Mt. Airy, GA (September 13, 2022) – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer involved shooting in Habersham County, GA. The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation on September 12, 2022. One man was shot and died. No deputies were injured during this incident.
Preliminary information indicates that the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a home on Cross Street in Mt. Airy, GA at 8:43 p.m. The caller said someone at the home had a gun then the call was disconnected. The responding deputies were not immediately able to contact anyone when they arrived at the home. After continued efforts, the door opened, and deputies were confronted by a man with a weapon and deputies shot the man. Deputies administered CPR and rendered aid until Habersham EMS responded. The man died as a result of his injuries. An autopsy will be performed at the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office.
The crime scene investigation determined that the gun the man was armed with was a replica firearm. The ID of the man is pending.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation and upon completion, it will be provided to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney for review.
GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Habersham County
Community, Featured News, Police & Government, Press Release September 13, 2022
Mt. Airy, GA (September 13, 2022) – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer involved shooting in Habersham County, GA. The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation on September 12, 2022. One man was shot and died. No deputies were injured during this incident.
Preliminary information indicates that the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a home on Cross Street in Mt. Airy, GA at 8:43 p.m. The caller said someone at the home had a gun then the call was disconnected. The responding deputies were not immediately able to contact anyone when they arrived at the home. After continued efforts, the door opened, and deputies were confronted by a man with a weapon and deputies shot the man. Deputies administered CPR and rendered aid until Habersham EMS responded. The man died as a result of his injuries. An autopsy will be performed at the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office.
The crime scene investigation determined that the gun the man was armed with was a replica firearm. The ID of the man is pending.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation and upon completion, it will be provided to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney for review.
Contact Public and Governmental Affairs Deputy Director
Natalie Ammons
Ralston calls for GBI investigation into Fulton County elections
News July 16, 2021
ATLANTA, Ga – Elected officials are taking aim and Fulton County and its elections director Richard Barron, following new details regarding the 2020 election.
Today, Speaker of the House David Ralston (R – Blue Ridge) released the letter he sent to Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron. In the letter, Ralston requests Barron ask the GBI to investigate November 2020 election. He cited the mounting allegations against Fulton County as his reasoning behind the need for an investigation.
Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston
“Recently, media reports have surfaced which call into question the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election. These reports have been accompanied by video and other evidence which is part of on-going litigation and requires thorough examination and explanation. Given the seriousness of this situation and the possible repercussions for our state and nation, it is time we have an independent investigation – once and for all – of the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election,” Ralston wrote.
Raffensperger calls for Barron’s firing
Throughout the week, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-Ga) has issued several tweets, and last month, he held a press conference in front of headlines concerning Fulton’s lengthy history of election problems.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
Most recently, a report of the double-counting of 200 absentee ballots came to light after the new voting law made it public.
“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better,” one of Raffensperger’s tweets read.
Earlier this year, the Fulton County Elections Board voted to fire Barron, but the commissioners rejected the termination.
Another tweet stated, “Long before November, I had been working to get Fulton to clean up their decades of election mismanagement. Restoring confidence in our elections should be a bipartisan concern. Fulton County’s poor elections management is making that impossible.”
Raffensperger’s also gone on record urging Republicans to take “the lead on election regulation reform” and that the SOS assigned monitor found “significant management issues.”
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts (D – Fulton) described Raffensperger’s call to fire Barron and Jones as a “sell out to conspiracy theorists.”
“His ultimate goal is based on the provisions of Senate Bill 202, he would like to take over the elections in Fulton County, that is not going to happen, period,” Pitts told Fox 5 Atlanta.
Under the Election Integrity Act (SB 202), the Secretary of State’s Office does have the authority to take over a county’s elections process if numerous instances of problems are documented. The Department of Justice is currently suing Georgia over the bill on the grounds that it violates voter’s civil rights.
Read the entirety of Ralston’s call for an election investigation below:
Habersham County Man Arrested for Child Sexual Exploitation
News, Press Release February 26, 2021
Mount Airy, GA (February 26, 2021) – On Thursday, February 25, 2021, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the residence of Brenton Lee Lawson, 36, in Mount Airy, Habersham County, GA. An investigation into Lawson’s internet activity by the GBI’s CEACC Unit began after a report was received from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) related to the possession of child pornography by Lawson via the internet. This investigation led to a search warrant of Lawson’s residence in Habersham County, GA, and subsequently Lawson’s arrest. As a result of the investigation, Lawson was arrested and charged with three counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Possession of Methamphetamine. Lawson was booked into the Habersham County Jail.
This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade and the online sexual exploitation of children. The ICAC Program, created by the U. S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
Anyone with information about this case or any other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes and Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.
Habersham County Woman Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children
News, Press Release January 11, 2021
Habersham County, GA (January 8, 2021) – On Friday, January 8, 2021, Habersham County resident, Kristina Townsend, age 45, was charged with the Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material) in violation of O.C.G.A 16-12-100(b)(8) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit.
The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Townsends’s online activity after receiving a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and later associated that single cybertip with other multiple cybertips. The information received was related to the upload of suspected child pornography by Townsend using popular email applications. A search of Townsend’s residence and electronic devices produced evidence which led to the arrest of Townsend on January 8, 2021. Townsend was taken into custody and booked into the Habersham County Jail. The GBI was assisted in the investigation and the execution of the search warrant by the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office. The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office also assisted with this investigation.
This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. The ICAC Program, created by the U.S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Major Drug Trafficking Organization Dismantled
Featured Stories, News, Police & Government July 10, 2020
North GA (July 10, 2020) – After an extensive 11- month local, state, and federal joint investigation, 48 men and women have been arrested on the Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and will be charged on numerous drugs and weapons offenses, spanning the Northern District of Georgia into the metro Atlanta area.
From August 2019 to the present, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO), the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Major Offender’s Task Force in conjunction with the Hall County District Attorney’s Office has been conducting an investigation into the drug trafficking organization of Luther Troy Summerfield, age 43, Alejandro Ceja-Solano, age 40, and others. During the course of the investigation, agents in coordination with local deputies from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, the Banks County Sheriff’s Office, the White County Sheriff’s Office, Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Cleveland Police Department, Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hall County Sheriff’s Office learned that Summerfield purchased and distributed kilograms of methamphetamine from Ceja-Solano. Information obtained from numerous hours of investigation also revealed that Summerfield traveled to Ceja-Solano’s residence to obtain drugs and traveled to the metro Atlanta area to obtain heroin and methamphetamine, either facilitated by Ceja-Solano, or another source of supply.
Throughout the investigation, police executed approximately 12 search warrants yielding the following:
- Approximately 50 kilograms of methamphetamine
- Approximately ½ kilogram of heroin
- Approximately 20 firearms
- Approximately $70,000 in cash
- Approximately 6 vehicles
The following individuals were arrested:
- Tanya Lynn Allison, age 48-arrested
- Katlynn Marie Beaucaire-arrested
- Richard Daniel Burkett-arrested
- Dulcey Burton, age 51-arrested
- Alejandro Ceja-Solano-arrested
- Jose Alfredo Miranda Chavez-already in custody
- Jessica Marie Clark, age 28-arrested
- Noah Coker-in prison
- Mark Coker-arrested
- Joshua Collins- already in custody
- Kevin Cosper-arrested
- Robyn Samantha Dost, age 27-arrested
- Chelsea Dover, age 30-arrested
- Shelbi Eanes, age 25-arrested
- Juan Antonio Flores-custody in Gwinnett
- Brandi Nicole Freeman-arrested
- Jory Gee, age 33-arrested
- Roger Dale Gerrin, age 62-arrested
- Robert Green- already in custody in Lumpkin
- Dexter Grier, age 40-arrested
- Nucoma Grindle, age 42-arrested
- Dustin Floyd Groves- arrested
- Terry Harris, -arrested
- Christy Deresia Hedden-arrested
- Jerry Lee Helton-arrested
- Crystal Marie Herrin-arrested
- Brooke Barron Hicks-arrested
- Christopher Jackson, age 33-arrested
- Kimberly Ann Kennedy-arrested
- Richard Jason Maddox-arrested
- Marinela Romeiro Marquez-arrested
- Pablo Martinez-already in custody
- Shayna Millwood-arrested
- Allie Murray-arrested
- William Harrison Nicely-arrested
- Ashley Parker- already in custody
- Joshua Ray Phillips- custody already
- Kirstie Purvis-arrested
- Brianne Ross Rummell-already in custody
- Michael Rummel-arrested
- Coty Anthony Sanders-arrested
- Jeffrey Shane Seabolt—arrested
- Erin Sexton-arrested
- Jessie Elaine Smith-arrested
- Seantal Tiffany Smith-arrested
- Luther Troy Summerfield-arrested
- Delores Thomas –arrested
- Anthony Williams-in custody
The street value associated with all the drugs seized is approximately $705,000.00.
The Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office is a multi-agency unit that consists of the following agencies: White County Sheriff’s Office, Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office, Towns County Sheriff’s Office, Banks County Sheriff’s Office, Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, Rabun County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, Cleveland Police Department, Lavonia Police Department, Toccoa Police Department, the Georgia National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, the Department of Public Safety, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI’S Major Offender’s Task Force consists of the Gainseville Police Department, the Georgia State Patrol, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office the Georgia Department of Corrections, the GBI, the Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Winder Police Department, and the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office.
The Alto Police Department assisted with this investigation as well.
This investigation is an example of the value of interagency cooperation. Because of the strong, existing relationships between the participating agencies, agents were able to share intelligence and coordinate the dismantling of a complex drug trafficking organization. Although numerous arrests have been made and evidence seized, the investigation continues, and additional arrests are expected.