Johnny Walker must really like some Little Caesars pizza.

The Augusta man who targeted two Little Caesars pizza places for robbery was nabbed Tuesday after failing to get any money at the Gordon Highway location.

Johnny Verdel Walker, 20, posed as a customer Tuesday morning at the Little Caesars in the Southgate Shopping Center. After ordering a pizza, he pulled out a gun, pointed it at the employee and demanded money.

But the employee said there was no money in the register, and Walker ran away. Deputies spotted him walking on the 2500 block of Deans Bridge Road soon after and captured him after a short foot chase.

He was also linked to the successful June 12th robbery of the Little Caesars Pizza at 2492 Tobacco Road, where he obtained money and a pizza before fleeing.

He’s being held in jail on charges of armed robbery, criminal attempted armed robbery, and two counts of weapon possession.

A nurse at an Augusta nursing home was arrested Wednesday for assaulting a 67-year-old resident with Alzheimer’s, authorities said.

Lashanda Johnson, 32, is accused of pushing the victim back into her bed inside her room at “The Place at Deans Bridge,” causing her to head to hit the bed and leaving a bump, according to a sheriff’s report.

A video shows Johnson waking the resident up about 5 a.m. Monday so she could change the bed sheets. When the woman started fighting with the nurse, the suspect “pushed her back into the bed,” the report says.

“The suspect then told the victim that she would knock her ugly a** out if she hit her again,” the report says.

The victim is an Alzheimer patient at the Dean’s Bridge Road nursing home and doesn’t know anything that occurred. But a bump on the patient’s head was spotted by someone else and reported to the sheriff’s office.

Johnson was arrested Wednesday and charged with simple battery and failure to protect a disabled adult or elder person.

An Aiken burglar pressed his luck Sunday and got caught while breaking into a 6th business, authorities said.

Quinton Taylor, 22, of Aiken, was standing behind the counter at the Breakers Convenience store on University Parkway when Aiken cops saw the window broken and investigated, a press release says.

He was arrested and later linked to six other burglaries along York Street and University Parkway, including:
* Little China restaurant, York Street.
* Nail Art Salon
* Approved Cash Payday Loans
* The Lemonade Stand, University Parkway
* Automotive Service & Machine Shop, York Street.
* Steven’s Monuments

The burglary investigation began with an 5 a.m. alarm at Little China restaurant on York Street, which led officers to look around and find damage and break-in to the other businesses.

“At each of the previous burglaries prior to his arrest; a quantity of money and surveillance equipment had been taken from the business,” said Cpl. Jeremy Hembree said. “Once the subject was arrested officers were able to recover the items which had been taken.”

He is charged with multiple counts of burglary and is being held at the Aiken County Jail.

Columbia County authorities have issued a warrant for Chad Stefani for public indecency following the Appling man’s arrest in Richmond County for a similar flashing incident.

The 24-year-old suspect was arrested in Augusta on Monday for allegedly exposing himself to two strangers in the T-Mobile parking lot. He made bond and was released.

Richmond County authorities alerted Columbia County about the arrest and asked them to pursue a pending case against Stefani for a similar incident along Interstate 20 on April 30.

In that case, Stefani allegedly drove up along a woman while they were passing the Welcome Center, raised himself up, exposed his penis and began stroking himself. The woman got Stefani’s tag number and reported it, but declined prosecution. When she was told he continued doing it, she agreed to prosecute, sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said.

Stefani is also a suspect in an incident last Wednesday on Buff Road in which a man pulled up alongside a woman and her friend and asked her opinion on “how my penis looks,” according to a report. But the woman drove away quickly and didn’t see anything.

Capt. Morris said he is also investigating a report about possible indecency at the Evans YMCA in front of children.

“The warrant has been issued and we will see if additional people come forward,” he said.

ORIGINAL STORY:

An Augusta man’s been arrested for public indecency for allegedly exposing himself to two women in the parking lot of T-Mobile on Wheeler Road.

The women, ages 26 and 30, said a man with a bald head drove up next to them last Thursday in the T-Mobile parking lot in a blue Dodge Ram pick-up truck and asked them what they thought about his penis.

“When both victims dismissed the subject, he pulled his vehicle up from the victims, got out of his truck and exposed his penis to the victims telling them to ‘look,’” according to a sheriff’s report. “The suspect got back into his vehicle and drove away from the scene.”

The victims got the suspects’ tag number, which led police to identify the suspect as 24-year-old Chad Stefani of Augusta. He was arrested on Monday on two counts of public indecency and has been released on bond.

An 83-year-old Augusta man was charged Tuesday with battery, accused of biting his wife and trying to break her fingers over his missing wallet and keys.

Graham Clarke, of Thread Needle Road, was reportedly drunk and angry when he confronted his 76-year-old wife in their bedroom at 1 a.m. Tuesday.

“He accused her of taking his keys and his wallet,” a sheriff’s report says. “When she told him she did not have the items, he proceeded to grab her arms and try to twist them backwards and break her fingers. She stated that when she began to pull away from him, he bit her three times on her left arm and caused a scratch on her right arm.”

The victim waited until lunchtime Tuesday to report the incident. Graham was later arrested for battery – family violence. Bond was $2,000.

The Richmond County Coroner’s Office confirmed that a suspect who died from cardiac arrest Saturday had been tased by deputies.

The suspect, identified as 39-year-old George Harvey (pictured), was pronounced dead at GRU Hospital at 8:47 p.m. Saturday, Deputy Coroner Kenneth Boose said in a press release.

Harvey was “tased by RCSD and went in to cardiac arrest,” a press release from Boose said. “CPR done by deputies until EMS arrived.”
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday in Atlanta.

A press release from sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Calvin Chew said deputies were attempting to apprehend a suspect at the corner of Olive Road and Gordon Highway when a struggle ensued.

“Upon getting the subject in custody, he went into an apparent cardiac arrest,” Lt. Chew said. “Medical personnel were notified and CPR was conducted on the subject.”

The GBI was notified and will be conducting the investigation on the death of the subject. Sheriff’s officials would not comment or confirm that Harvey had been tased.

The sheriff’s office only recently began using tasers this year.

According to court records, Harvey is a repeat offender with multiple convictions in Richmond County for simple battery, cocaine possession, DUI, theft and obstructing police.

An Augusta man shot a woman and then himself early Sunday, authorities said.

The coroner’s office has identified the killer as 35-year-old Timothy Lee and the victim as his wife, 37-year-old Angela Lee.

A sheriff’s spokesman said they responded to the 3500 block of Crawfordville Drive about 1:30 a.m. Sunday regarding shots being fired.

The couple were engaged in a verbal altercation which escalated and resulted in the male producing a gun and shooting his wife,
sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Shane McDaniel Sr. said. Mr. Lee then turned the weapon on himself. Both died from their injuries.

Autopsies are scheduled Tuesday.

WGAC’s Austin Rhodes is reporting that Mr. Lee is a Port Authority employee out of Savannah. His wife was a Captain in the Army, stationed at Fort Gordon.

“At home during the 1:30 AM event were the couples 3 children, one aged 17…two others under 10,” Rhodes reported on his Facebook page. “Personal/marital issues were the apparent impetus.”

An Augusta teenager has been charged with having sex with a 13-year-old girl after the girl’s mother caught them in the act, a sheriff’s report states.

The victim’s mother admitted to deputies that she wanted to kill 19-year-old Kardre Fuller after finding him naked with her daughter last Thursday, a report says. The mom started to drag the 6-foot suspect to the kitchen to get some scissors to “kill him” but he broke free and ran from the Hephzibah trailer, a report says.

He was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated child molestation. According to the sheriff’s report, the suspect lives in the trailer with the girl and her mother as well as another man.

And in another bizarre twist, a neighbor told deputies that the girl wasn’t raped like she claimed. The witness said a man who lives with the victim’s mother “sold the victim” to Fuller, according to the sheriff’s report.

The entire episode was too much for the girl’s mother, who passed out while talking to deputies. She had to be rushed to University Hospital. The 13-year-old girl was also taken to the hospital for treatment, the report says.

Fuller remained behind bars Monday morning without bond.

An Augusta man accused of repeatedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl was seriously injured when confronted by the girl’s father and other men Saturday.

Brian Heath Ransom, 36, was arrested for non-aggravated child molestation, but not before he was confronted by the girl’s father on Saturday afternoon.

That confrontation led to a violent fight that led to Ransom being hospitalized. According to a sheriff’s report, he was confronted and then fought with the girl’s father and others who tried to break up the fight, a sheriff’s report says. Ransom suffered a laceration to the head, multiple facial injuries and back pain. He was taken to a local ER for treatment.

Meanwhile, deputies investigating the reason for the fight talked to the 12-year-old girl, who said Ransom first touched her inappropriately on the couch at her home in June. The girl said the suspect had sex with her four or five times since then, the report says.

Ransom was arrested while walking away from the home where the assault took place. The girl’s father and the other men suffered minor injuries during the fighting, but they all claimed self-defense in the injuries on Ransom. All refused treatment.

A report does not mention the suspect’s relationship or reason to being in the girl’s home at the time of the alleged molestation. The report says the girl’s father does not live with his daughter or the girl’s mother.

Ransom is being held in the Richmond County Jail under no bond.

A convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday on accusations he tried to have sex with his 9-year-old granddaughter inside the Augusta hotel where he lives.

David DeLardge, who was convicted in 2006 for enticing a child for indecent purposes, was left alone with his 9-year-old granddaughter and three other children while the girl’s mother and her fiance went to the store June 27, according to a sheriff’s report. But the three other children left the room at Motel One on Gordon Highway, and that is when DeLardge allegedly attacked the girl.

The victim said her grandfather molested her and tried to have vaginal intercourse with her. When that didn’t work, the 390-pound man took the girl to the bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex on him before again trying to have regular sex, a report says.

The girl told her mother’s fiance about the abuse when the couple returned, but they did not immediately report it to police “because they thought they would have their children taken away,” a report says. A DFACS worker reported the incident to the sheriff’s office, leading to Wednesday’s arrest.

DeLardge, 53, has been charged with aggravated child molestation and incest. He is currently being held without bond in the Richmond County Jail.

HIS PAST: Court records show he pleaded guilty in May 2006 to enticing a child for indecent purposes from a 2005 incident. In that case, he flashed money at a 9-year-old girl who lived in his apartment complex to get her inside his apartment. Once inside, he put his hand up her shirt and began rubbing her, ordering her not to tell anyone.

DeLardge was sentenced to three years in prison, but a judge gave him credit for the time he spent in jail awaiting trial and released him on 12 years of probation.

WRDW Anchor/Reporter Christie Ethridge was arrested overnight for DUI in Richmond County, according to jail records.

Ethridge, 23, was reportedly stopped around 2:30 a.m. during the last night for Operation Rolling Thunder, according to authorities. She was found to be impaired and was arrested.

Ethridge was booked into the Richmond County Jail and has been released on bond.

According to WRDW’s website, Christie graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in Digital and Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Spanish. While at UGA, she reported, produced, edited and shot video for Grady Newsource, northeast Georgia’s only local newscast. She began working for WRDW in July 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile. She grew up in Peachtree City, Ga.

Operation Rolling Thunder was a 3-month, high-visibility campaign to help cops crack down on dangerous drivers throughout Richmond County. The Thunder taskforce is a specialized traffic enforcement unit designed to help Georgia cities and counties combat abnormally high occurrences of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities on local, high-traffic corridors. They use checkpoints to catch impaired drivers.

Aiken County authorities didn’t have to look far for the knife-wielding robber who held up an Aiken store clerk Tuesday night.

Brandon Knight returned to the Kent’s Korner store for cigarettes while deputies were at the Wagener Road store investigating his earlier robbery of beer at knifepoint, according to a press release.

The clerk pointed to the 32-year-old man and identified him as the robber. Deputies quickly grabbed Knight and arrested him for armed robbery and weapon possession.

If only they were all that easy.

ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE FROM AIKEN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE:

Second Robbery Attempt Goes Wrong for the Suspect
Aiken County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in an armed robbery investigation of the Kents Korner that is located at 2557 Wagener Road in Aiken.

On July 16, 2013 at 9:25 pm, the Sheriffs Office received a call from the clerk about a suspect who held him up at knife point and stole some beer.  Sheriffs deputies responded, where they met with the clerk who described the suspect as a white male wearing a white shirt and light blue jeans.  The clerk informed deputies that the suspect left in an unknown vehicle and did threaten to return for cigarettes.

While Sheriffs deputies were on scene, the suspect, identified as Brandon Clifford Knight, 32, did come back to the store where the clerk pointed him out to the deputies.  Mr. Knight was arrested on scene by investigators.  Mr. Knight was driven back to the store by another suspect, who investigators determined had no involvement in the robbery.

Mr. Knight was taken to the Aiken County Detention Center where he is expected to be charged with Armed Robbery and Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime.

An Augusta man tried to get deputies to shoot him dead late Tuesday but was struck with tasers instead, a move by officers that saved the suspect’s life.

The encounter with 54-year-old Bradley Slater began when officers responded to a domestic dispute at 2249 Bayvale Road about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, a sheriff’s report says.

Deputy Joshua Bryant and Cpl. Willie Tuggle saw Slater push his wife several times and the officers entered the home. But Slater kept his right hand behind his back and refused to show what he was holding. Slater yelled at the officers to get out of his house.

Deputy Bryant then noticed Slater was holding a kitchen knife and the officer drew his service weapon, ordering the suspect to put down the knife.

“Mr. Slater refused and stated if that if Deputy Bryant did not shoot him, he would kill Deputy Bryant,” the officer’s report says.

Cpl. Tuggle then activated his Taser and the suspect threw the knife down, only to pick it up seconds later. So Cpl. Tuggle stunned Slater with the Taser, but the man kept fighting. So the corporal shot him again with the stun gun and the two officers were able to handcuff him.

While in custody, Slater admitted to the officers that he was trying to commit “suicide by cop.”

He was charged with felony obstruction, terroristic threats & acts, simple battery,  and obstructing a 911 call. He was held under no bond at the Richmond County Jail.

Slater has no criminal record in Richmond County, according to a search of court records.

Richmond County authorities are looking for the suspects in a double shooting at a late-night party Thursday that killed a 19-year-old Augusta teen who just graduated from Laney High School a year ago.

Marquez Eubanks (pictured) and 21-year-old Jeremy Whitehead were both shot in the torso, and Eubanks died later at GRU Hospital, authorities said.

Deputies found the shooting victims when they responded just before midnight Thursday to a loud party at 2536 East Kensington Drive.

“Upon arriving on the scene, deputies observed numerous subjects running from the residence and learned of a shooting inside the residence,” Lt. Chew said.

The two shooting victims were transported from the residence to GRU Hospital each suffering from at least one gunshot wound to their torso.

Eubanks later died from his injury, Lt. Chew said. Whitehead is listed in critical condition.

No suspects are in custody, the lieutenant said.

Eubanks graduated in 2012 from Laney High School, where he played football for four years.

Know anything about the shooting? Please call the Sheriff’s Office at 706 821-1080.

Richmond County Investigators have arrested 17-year-old Dijon Cortez Abbott in connection with the Thursday night’s shootings that killed 19-year-old Marquez Eubanks and injured Jeremy Whitehead and Latrice Nelson.

Abbott was being treated at a local hospital before his arrest, but he was transferred to the jail overnight. He is charged with murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and two counts of aggravated assault.

Just before midnight Thursday, deputies found the shooting victims when they responded to a loud party at 2536 East Kensington Drive in Augusta. Eubanks later died from his injury, Lt. Chew said.

Eubanks graduated in 2012 from Laney High School, where he played football for four years.

UPDATE: NEW DETAILS IN AUGUSTA’S DOUBLE MURDER:
The Jail Report has learned that killer Cedric Harris’ wife officially filed for divorce just two weeks ago, a possible reason he tracked her down early Sunday and shot her, her sister and a male relative.

After the shootings, the 30-year-old suspect drove to McDuffie County and shot himself to death, authorities said.

In Augusta, authorities have not identified the shooting victims, but WRDW-TV says the suspect’s wife, April Paulk, survived the shootings but her sister and another male relative died. The TV station identified the dead as Brandi Paulk and Lee Wilson, while April Paulk is reportedly in critical condition at a local hospital.

A check of court records shows that April Paulk filed for divorce on July 5, 2013, against her husband, a man with a history of domestic abuse against her. Relatives told WRDW that Paulk was trying to get a restraining order.

In 2011, Harris was charged with tracking her down at a local park, jumping a curb and ramming her vehicle with his SUV. He received a plea deal and probation in that case, which was overseen by Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet. He also has a conviction for family violence in 2007 which led to probation.

On Sunday, authorities say the shooting took place at a home on Stanton Court. The sheriff’s office spokeswoman is remaining hush-hush on the double murder as the investigation continues. There were no updates Sunday night.

- – -

Original Story: An Augusta man with a history of domestic abuse has killed his ex-wife and an unidentified man and injured a third person at a home in the Pepperidge subdivision, authorities say.

The suspect, 30-year-old Cedric Tobias Harris, was found later in McDuffie County with a wound that appears to be self-inflicted, sheriff’s Sgt. Monica Belser said in a press release. His condition is unknown.

Authorities have not identified the victims.

Early Sunday, deputies were called to the 3600 block of Stanton Drive for a domestic shooting.

“Deputies discovered one deceased female and one deceased male at the scene,” Sgt. Belser said in a press release. “A third victim was also shot and was transported to GRU and is now listed in critical condition.”

The sergeant said Harris is “believed to be the ex-husband of the deceased female.”

Harris has been arrested at least twice before in Richmond County for domestic issues, including a 2011 incident when he stalked his child’s mother, followed her in his SUV and rammed her vehicle in Bayvale Park after jumping a curb. The woman and another man in the car suffered minor injuries.

A judge agreed to dismiss one of two aggravated assault charges against Harris and reduce the other to criminal damage to property, handing him probation and a fine.

A 2007 case for simple battery and family violence also resulted in probation, court records show.

An Augusta woman was charged with statutory rape Monday morning for allegedly having sex with a middle school-age boy.

Christina Strellner, 25, was arrested early Monday for the sexual assault on the boy, who just turned 15 this month. The charge of statutory rape indicates there was no force involved in the sex.

According to a sheriff’s report, the 300-pound suspect lives with the boy on Cedar Oak Lane in Augusta. The boy’s older sister was at the home and asked Strellner if she had engaged in sex with her brother. The suspect first denied it, saying that she had just been in the boy’s room watching YouTube videos. But then she admitted using her foot to rub the boy’s leg, which led to sex.

The boy, who weighs 200 pounds less than the suspect, also admitted that he had sex with the older woman early Sunday.  A report says he is a student at Pine Hill Middle School.

Strellner was booked into the Richmond County Jail under no bond.

Aiken police have charged a man in the July 12th brutal assault and rape of an Aiken woman who was attacked after leaving downtown Aiken clubs alone.

Derek Randolph Brooks, 38, of Aiken, is accused of attacking the 22-year-old woman as she was heading to her car once the downtown establishments closed about 2 a.m. on July 12, Capt. David Turno said.

“She was talking on a cell phone. He came up and approached her. She ran off and tried to get away from her, but he ran her down and attacked her,” Capt. Turno said.

The suspect beat the young woman so badly that she lost consciousness. During the assault, Brooks allegedly sexually assaulted the woman. He then left the woman “unconscious, unattended and hidden inside the parkway” at Newberry Street and Park Avenue, according to warrants.

The woman eventually regained consciousness and walked downtown to find help, Capt. Turno said.

The victim suffered extensive facial trauma but she is recovering. “She is described by investigators as ‘a rock.’ She is doing extremely well for what she went through,” Capt. Turno said.

The suspect was identified through forensic evidence, the captain said. He was arrested Monday night and charged with attempted murder, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct in the first-degree. He remains in jail under no bond.

An Augusta man was arrested Wednesday afternoon for threatening to slap radio host Austin Rhodes, authorities said.

Darnell Chambers, 25, was charged with terroristic threats and acts at the Columbia County jail.

According to a sheriff’s report, Chambers made the threats on the Facebook page that promotes Rhodes show. The suspect allegedly threatened to slap Rhodes if he ever saw him in public.

The exact message (without edits) said:
“If i see u in public any were im slap da shyt out u on air bitch ass craccer…i dnt give a fucc bout no police…g.b.i.f.b.i. whoever dey can get it to.”
Chambers used the screen name MrBlacc Trapastic CG, the report said.

Rhodes was not available for comment on the arrest. On his show Tuesday, Rhodes indicated it was his station’s policy to report and prosecute anyone who made threats.

“In 21 years, there have been two people do significant jail time (one spent two years in Federal prison) for threats made in such a manner,” Rhodes said Tuesday on his Facebook page.

The Facebook page for MrBlacc Trapastic CG shows photos of Chambers and says he studied at “Smoking Weed” and formerly T.W. Josey High School.

Chambers has previous convictions in Richmond County for marijuana possession, obstruction of a law enforcement officer and several traffic violations.