A Subway robber was fatally shot by an employee Sunday afternoon at the restaurant on Gordon Highway in Augusta, authorities said.

The robber was identified as 24-year-old Cornelius Lamar Harrison of Greensboro, N.C., according to Coroner Mark Bowen. He is pictured here from a Facebook account under his name. The picture is from 2012.

Just after noon Sunday, two robbers entered the Subway at 1646 Gordon Highway.  They were armed with crowbars and attempted to rob the business, authorities said.

“During the incident, one of the suspects struck a 14 year old juvenile in the head with the crowbar causing injury,” a press release says.  “A female employee then fired shots at the suspects after the assault on the juvenile, striking one of them in the upper torso.”

Harrison was shot at least once and later died from his injuries at Augusta University Medical Center.

No information was released on the second robber or condition of the juvenile victim. Stay tuned.

The post Augusta Robber Fatally Shot by Subway Employee appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A Grovetown man attacked his girlfriend Sunday morning after she started getting emotional about her father’s death, according to a sheriff’s report.

“Stop being a whiny b***h!” abuse suspect Kevin Sizemore allegedly told his girlfriend.

Sizemore then dragged his girlfriend by the hair and pushed her out of their home, leaving the 30-year-old woman with red marks on her knees and the back of her feet, the report says.

The woman was able to call 911, and dispatchers heard him yelling and her crying during a physical altercation. A dispatcher heard the man say, “I’m going to f*** you up!”

When deputies arrived at the home on Old Louisville Road, the suspect was hiding in the woods behind the home. The victim was sitting outside.

The victim told authorities that her boyfriend suspected her of cheating and was upset that her pizza delivery job was causing wear and tear on her vehicle. But the assault occurred after she started talking about her father.

From the sheriff’s report: “She was feeling upset with the death of her father and she was ‘opening up’ to Mr. Sizemore and she said he told her to stop being a whiny bitch. She said the altercation became physical and she said Mr. Sizemore told her, ‘I`m going to f*** you up!’ and drugged by her hair and pushed her out of the residence.”

Sizemore, 31, confessed to authorities that they were fighting, saying that it escalated when he told his girlfriend he was going to leave her.

Sizemore was charged with battery – family violence and terroristic threats & acts. He was also charged with possession of Schedule II drugs when deputies found “illegal narcotics” in plain view in the house, a report says.

Sizemore is a registered sex offender, convicted of rape on a 21-year-old victim a decade ago. Click image for details.

The post Grovetown Abuser Tells Girlfriend: Stop Whining About Your Dad’s Death appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

The second robber in the deadly Subway hold-up has been caught and positively identified, The Jail Report has learned.

Brandon James Simmons, 25, of Durham, N.C. (pictured), has been named as the second suspect. Later, Simmons was fingerprinted and the return on the prints show him as Howard Maurice Harris, 23 years old,  with a North Carolina probation violation warrant on drug charges.

According to authorities, shortly after 3 am Monday, Richmond County Deputies responded to the Courtyard Marriott located at 1045 Stevens Creek Road in reference to a suspicious person and found Harris.

“(Harris) had a possible medical episode and was transported to the emergency room at Augusta University Medical Center,” a press release says. “(Harris) was also found to have a small quantity of methamphetamine.”

Investigators learned of Harris’ encounter with Law Enforcement and began following up.  Harris was later linked as a suspect in the deadly Subway robbery attempt.

The Subway restaurant on Gordon Highway was held up by two men Sunday, but only one man survived after employee Kovedia Williams pulled a gun and fatally shot one of them. That robber was identified as 24-year-old Cornelius Harrison of Greensboro, N.C. (shown at right), a man with a long criminal history.

In an exclusive interview with The Jail Report, Williams said she was shown a line-up by detectives Monday and has positively identified the second shooter who came into the Augusta Subway on Sunday.

“He’s in custody. I can breath again,” said Williams.

Williams pulled her gun and shot at Harrison moments after the second robber hit her 14-year-old son on the head with a crow bar, causing an injury that required three staples. She said she wishes she had shot the man who hit her son, but that man got away. But he is now in custody, she said.

A sheriff’s report says the dead robber was found in the woods, but the second robber got away.

Harris has been booked into the Charles B Webster Detention Center where he was charged with felony Possession of Methamphetamine, Aggravated Assault, and Felony Murder.

Stay tuned for more details in this case, and make sure to read this week’s edition of The Jail Report for our exclusive interview with Williams.

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An Augusta Comcast worker quit Tuesday in frustration after 17 years on the job and took his work truck with him, threatening his supervisor at gunpoint when the boss tried to stop him, authorities said.

George Hilliard, 58 (pictured here from Facebook), drove the work truck to his home in Edgefield, where deputies in that county captured him and held him for extradition to Richmond County. A report says calls it armed robbery and weapon possession.

For more crime news, pick up this week’s new edition of The Jail Report, sold in local gas stations for $1.50.

A Richmond County Sheriff’s report explains how Tuesday’s Comcast events unfolded:

Comcast Supervisor Jack Thornton said the suspect had complained about being overworked and wanted to quit. Thornton told him to take some time to think about it since the employee had worked for Comcast for 17 years.

Soon, though, Hilliard emailed his boss that he was coming to the Augusta office on River Shoals Parkway to turn in his work truck. Once there, he surrendered his identification badge and said he was quitting. Thornton asked the employee if he had someone to pick him up, but Hilliard said he was taking the work truck home.

“You can’t take the work truck since you are no longer employed at Comcast,” Thornton reportedly told him.

“Watch me,” Hilliard reportedly said, getting up to leave. “I’m taking the truck.”

Hilliard went to the truck and opened up the driver door. His boss approached him from behind. Hilliard then turned to face him and pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at Thornton’s face.

“Get back motherf***er,” the suspect said.

Thornton ran back and pushed another employee into the office. He pulled the fire alarm, and Hilliard drove off.

A GPS device in the truck showed that the suspect had driven to his home on the 2500 block of Martintown Road in Edgefield. That’s where Edgefield County deputies picked him up and arrested him. They also recovered the truck.

The post Augusta Comcast Worker Quits After 17 Years & Steals Work Truck at Gunpoint appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A Little Caesars employee was arrested last Thursday for attacking a co-worker who wouldn’t let her work since she had consumed alcohol before coming in, according to a sheriff’s report.

Sybil Bowles, 23, was charged with simple battery for the Thursday morning assault at the Little Caesars on Evans to Locks Road in Martinez.

This is one of many crime stories in this week’s edition of The Jail Report. Pick up your copy at local gas stations for $1.50.

The victim, Susanna Shepherd, told authorities that Bowles had consumed alcohol before coming to work at 9 a.m. Thursday. She told Bowles she was not allowed to work under those conditions and would have to find a replacement. Shepherd then went outside and called the suspect’s mother to come pick her up.

“Bowles followed her outside and continued to yell at her,” a sheriff’s report says. “She went back inside with Bowles following. Bowles then pushed her against the wall by her throat.”

  Shepherd called 911, and Bowles told responding deputies that she “has a drinking problem and admitted to having two shots before work.” The suspect said she was mad that she wasn’t allowed to work and pushed her co-worker.

Bowles was charged with simple battery and taken to jail.

The post In Martinez: Little Caesars Employee Upset She Can’t Work While Drunk appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

An Augusta man was found shot to death Friday night on Dugas Street, and no arrest has been announced.

Lawaun Jermaine Flournoy, 38, was found dead when deputies were called to the 1000 block of Dugas Street at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

The coroner’s office said he was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at 1 a.m. Saturday.

Family members were grieving his death on Facebook Saturday, with some asking the killer to turn himself in.

“You took a person’s life and left him on the street like a dog,” said Joann McNair in a video posted on her Facebook page. “Can’t nobody explain this to us.”

Investigators released little information on the case. “The investigation is continuing,” sheriff’s Lt. Allan Rollins said.

Investigators are sure to examine any possible connection with this case an Flournoy’s arrest in May for sexual battery, an arrest featured in The Jail Report.

Flournoy was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting his cousin. Flournoy was drunk and he claimed he thought he was at another woman’s house, a sheriff’s report said. He told the deputy that he had “f***** up bad.”

 The victim in that case said that she woke up with her pants and underwear down and Flournoy on his knees beside her fondling her vagina. She also said Flournoy knew who she was because he told her “sorry cuz.”

Flournoy was arrested and charged with sexual battery that case. He was free on bond when he was killed.

Stay tuned for updates.

The post Augusta Man Found Dead in the Street ‘Like a Dog’ appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Police are asking you to please help identify these two people who were caught on camera stealing ammunition from the Cabela’s in Augusta.

The man and woman entered the Augusta store at 8:24 p.m. Aug. 18 and stole 22 boxes of ammunition, according to a press release.

The suspects were both wearing all black clothing and left the store in a black 2014 Chrysler 200 with a Georgia tag of BFW5723.

Recognize them? Please call Investigator Thomas Langford with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes Division at (706) 821-1454 or 821-1080.

For more crime news and dumb crook stories, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report, sold in local gas stations for $1.50.

The post Couple Steal Ammunition from Cabela’s in Augusta!! appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

An Augusta father was arrested Friday for locking his 17-year-old daughter out of the house and refusing to let her back inside.

Donald Franklin Williams, 66, of Tamarind Way, was charged with deprivation of a minor.

The suspect’s daughter called the sheriff’s office at 11:10 p.m. Friday, telling deputies that she was shut out of her home by her father. A sheriff’s report describes what happened when deputies arrived at her home:

Mr. Williams would not cooperate with deputies and refused to let his daughter inside the residence while deputies were there. After several attempts to get him to unlock the door, the teen daughter was able to get through a front window. Once inside, deputies confronted an angry and uncooperative father.

“Donald stated that his daughter and him got into a verbal dispute over the dogs that were at the residence earlier today,” a report says. “Donald stated that his daughter then left the house to go to neighbor’s house.”

She went to the neighbor’s home at 6 p.m., and he decided not to let her back in when she returned.

For the deputy’s report: “The victim is a juvenile (17) under the age of 18 … and lives
with the suspect. I asked the suspect several times to let the victim inside the residence
but he stated he will not allow her back inside while deputies were on scene.”

While a 17-year-old in Georgia is legally allowed to leave their home if they choose, Georgia parents are legally required to support their minor children. Supporting your kids includes providing food, clothing, shelter, and basic care. Failing to provide for your kids can lead to criminal charges in the Peach State.

Mr. Williams was arrested and the teen turned over to her 21-year-old brother. The suspect remained in jail on Sunday night.

The post Arrested: Augusta Dad Locks 17-Year-Old Daughter Out of House appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Three Grovetown suspects are accused of hiding the death of an elderly woman who they were living with. Authorities say they left the woman’s body in the home for at least three days.

Among those charged is 44-year-old Robert Christy (top left), who is the son of the deceased victim, 78-year-old Namie Christy.  Police say the other two were living at the home and were considered the victim’s caregivers: Stephanie Lewis, 40 (top middle), and Dennis John Smith Jr., 41 (top right). All three were arrested last week and charged with concealing a death, a felony, and making false statements to law enforcement.

Grovetown police are looking at why the trio wanted to hide the death. Were they doing it for financial gain? Was it to cover up neglect or maltreatment of the woman?

“The motive still under investigation,” Grovetown Police Lt. Jones Nalley told The Jail Report on Monday.

According to authorities, one of the suspects called them July 27 and reported the death of Namie Christy. They told authorities they had face-to-face contact with the elderly woman within seven hours of finding her dead at the home on East Robinson Avenue.

But Coroner Vernon Collins came to the home and realized the victim had been dead at least three days!

“So they were hiding something,” Lt. Nalley said.

A warrant says the suspects “failed to notify law enforcement of Namie Christy’s death in a timely manner.” An autopsy on the victim is still pending with final results not expected for another two months.

Other criminal charges are possible, Lt. Nalley said.

It was a sad ending to Namie Christy’s life. Her death was handled by McNeill Funeral Home in Martinez, where officials said Monday that she was cremated. No obituary was requested or written for her.

The victim was named as a survivor after the 2011 death of her husband, 63-year-old Christopher Donald Christy. He was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War and had earned a Purple Heart, according to his obituary. The couple had been married for 43 years when he died on Feb. 7, 2011.

Besides the suspect, the woman has another son: Frank K. Christy, who lives in Virginia. The Jail Report has not been able to reach him for comment. The victim also had at least three grandchildren, two living in the Augusta area.

The post Grovetown Shocker: Trio Lived with Dead Woman for Several Days appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A Columbia County deputy was arrested for child cruelty and fired from the force Monday after a complaint that he bruised his 6-year-old stepson with a plastic hanger.

Columbia County Deputy Andrea Price observed injuries to her 6-year-old child and filed a report with her own agency. Sheriff’s investigators determined the injuries were caused by the woman’s husband, Aaron Price, who is the child’s stepfather and also a CCSO deputy.

The woman said the family had returned to their Evans home after soccer practice Thursday night. She said the child had received a bad report from his first-grade teacher for the day. So they told the child to go to his bedroom, and Mrs. Price talked to her husband about possible punishments, which included spanking, a sheriff’s report says.

The child’s mother stayed in the family room and later heard a single “cry out” from the victim. Mr. Price returned and told her the child had gone to bed after he spanked him.

The next day, the child’s grandmother told Mrs. Price to come to her house, where she showed her the child’s bruise. A sheriff’s report describes it as “a visible injury to her son’s lower back and right buttocks/thigh.”

Mrs. Price said her son advised that he was struck with a brown plastic clothing hanger.

Deputy Aaron Price, 32, was arrested for cruelty to children Monday for causing excessive physical and/or mental pain, according to a press release. Bond was set at $25,000.

Sheriff’s Maj. Steve Morris said the arrested officer was also fired from the sheriff’s office, where he has worked since Sept. 17, 2010. The Department of Family and Children Services was notified of the case.

The Price couple have been married less than two years. They wed on Jan. 29, 2015.

The post Arrested & Fired: CCSO Deputy Bruises Stepson with Plastic Hanger appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A Waynesboro man is being held on murder charges in the death of his girlfriend’s 6-month-old son who was injured in his care.

GBI authorities say William Roger Hillis II called 911 on Saturday, saying Baby Jay was unresponsive.

“Willis met deputies and EMS on Old Waynesboro Road in Richmond County where EMS transported the baby to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia,” a GBI press release says.

Authorities determined Hillis was caring for his girlfriend’s son when the victim suffered significant injuries. Hillis was initially charged with child cruelty.

On Monday, the victim (pictured at right) died at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, leading to upgraded murder charges against Hillis.

The victim’s body will be transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur, where an autopsy will be performed at a later time.

Hillis is being held at the Burke County Detention Center.

Note: If you have a photo of the victim and want to share it, please text it to 803-487-3224 or email it to publisher@thejailreport.com

The post MURDER: Waynesboro Man Charged in Death of 6-Month-Old Baby appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

An Augusta man was found dead in the road from an apparent gunshot wound Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Jeremy Clark, 29 (pictured from his Facebook page) was found dead on the 4100 block of Woodard Avenue, which is off Peach Orchard Road near Town & Country Shopping Center in Augusta.

The victim was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Coroner Mark Bowen said.

The coroner said Clark had what appears to be at least one gunshot wound. His body will be taken to GBI – Atlanta Lab this week for an autopsy.

The sheriff’s office has not released any information on the killing or a possible suspect, and they did not immediately return messages.

Friends are already remembering the victim on Facebook.

“Just found out my best friend Jeremy Clark got killed. They found his body (on Tuesday) at end of our road,” said Destiny DaBoss Ladiee. “I’m so upset. This don’t seem real.”

Clark’s Facebook page says he went to Cross Creek High School and was once an actor at Plantation Blood.

Note: If you have a photo of the victim or a memory you want to share, please text it to 803-487-3224.

The post Augusta Man Found Dead on Woodard Avenue appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

 A Grovetown woman was arrested for simple battery Saturday after assaulting her husband over divorce papers.

Quadelya Bennings was apparently upset that her husband had served divorce papers at her place of business on Friday, according to a sheriff’s report. She returned home early Saturday to their Erika Lane residence and confronted him.

“Mrs. Bennings hit him with a closed fist to the left side of his face, causing swelling under his left eye,” the sheriff’s report says.

  This is one of many stories in this week’s new edition of The Jail Report. Pick up your copy today, sold in local gas stations for $1.50.

The suspect denied hitting her husband, telling deputies that it was just a verbal argument. But deputies saw the man’s swollen eye and arrested Mrs. Bennings for simple battery under the Family Violence act.

The couple had been married for about 8 years.  According to online records, the couple applied for a marriage license in November 2008.

The post Grovetown Man is Assaulted for Serving Divorce Papers at Wife’s Workplace! appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

The body of a 34-year-old Jackson woman was discovered at approximately 2:50 AM Thursday.

According to Coroner Tim Carlton, the discovery was made at the corner of Tisdale Street and 3rd Street in Jackson SC.

“Although suspicious at this time, the community does not need to be concerned,” the coroner said in a press release. “The person has been presumptively identified however we are awaiting positive identification by fingerprints. Notification of next of kin is currently in the process.”

Autopsy is scheduled in Newberry. Cause and manner of death along with positive identification will be released later today, the coroner said.

The post Woman’s Body Discovered in Jackson, S.C. appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A Richmond County deputy shot at an armed Hephzibah man outside a Sprint convenience store Saturday morning but didn’t hit the man, authorities said.

No one was injured. The suspect’s mother recently told cops her son served time in military combat and has mental health issues.

The deputy, whose name was not released, was approaching the Sprint gas station along Windsor Spring Road at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday when the officer heard shots coming from the store, according to a press release from sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Shane McDaniel Sr.

“The deputy arrived at the Sprint station and happened upon a suspect firing gunshots with pedestrians in the area. The Deputy fired a shot at the suspect,” Sgt. McDaniel said.

The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Jeremiah Griffin, then ran away from the store. Deputies searched the area and captured Griffin a short time later and arrested him for aggravated assault, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and weapon possession.

The press release provides no other details about why Griffin was shooting his gun at the store, whether the deputy was justified in their actions or whether there is an independent investigation into the shooting. In previous officer-involved shootings by RCSO deputies, the GBI has been asked to investigate.

WGAC’s Austin Rhodes identified the deputy as Wes Stallings, pictured at right.

Griffin, of the 3900 Block of Crest Drive, was featured in The Jail Report after his June 20 arrest for criminal damage to property and a magistrate’s warrant.

In that case, Griffin’s mother said that her son busted the screen on her 52-inch TV and shattered the window of her vehicle with a brick, causing thousands in damage. She said her son was upset when she told him he couldn’t have women stay overnight at her house on Crest Drive.

“The victim also stated the primary aggressor spent some time in the military conflict overseas and he has some mental health issues at this time,” a sheriff’s report said.

Stay tuned for more on the officer-involved shooting…

The post RCSO Deputy Fires at Hephzibah Man Outside Sprint Store appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A North Augusta man was tackled to the ground by an officer Monday after he was caught looking up the skirt of a young woman in the aisles of Publix, police said.

Chauncey Hampton, 32, of 1011 Skyview Drive, North Augusta, was charged with “molesting adults and children,” which is the technical crime for what he’s accused of.

He is the same man convicted of sticking a camera phone up the skirt of a woman at the Augusta Mall in 2009.

In the most recent case, Sgt. John Downs with the sheriff’s office was off-duty at 6 p.m. Monday when he stopped at the North Augusta store and caught the pervert. He noticed Hampton was making very rapid movements and multiple selections from the shelf, just to replace every item. He also noticed that Hampton was always on the same aisle as the victim, a 27-year-old woman.

Finally, when the sergeant was near the victim and suspect, he heard a clicking noise and turned around.

“As he did, he noticed the male had set his basket down and was laying in a prone position on the floor, looking up the female’s dress,” a public safety report said.

Sgt. Downs then identified himself as an officer and told Hampton to stay put, but the suspect began to leave. Sgt. Downs then tackled him, asking a small crowd of employees and customers to call public safety.

   For more on this story, including our interview with the victim and details of the 2009 incident at Augusta mall, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report. It is sold in local gas stations for $1.50.

The post North Augusta Man Caught Looking Up Dresses – Again! appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

An Augusta woman’s body was found on her front porch Wednesday morning and her death is being investigated as suspicious, authorities said.

April Mims, 37, was found dead early Wednesday on her porch at 2542C Milledgeville Road in Augusta, Coroner Mark Bowen said in a press release. She was officially pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. Wednesday. (House picture is from Google.)

“This death is being handled as a suspicious death by the Coroner’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office,” the coroner said. “No other information is available at this time due to being in the early stages of the investigation.”

An autopsy will be done in Atlanta to help determine a cause of death.

Jail Report Note: If you have a photo of Ms. Mims or a memory to share, please text it to us at 803-487-3224.

For more crime news from the Augusta-Aiken area, pick up this week’s new edition of The Jail Report, sold at local gas stations for $1.50.

The post Suspicious Death: Augusta Woman’s Body Found on Porch appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

An Augusta teenager was arrested Wednesday night in the attempted robbery of an elderly man outside a church on Labor Day, authorities said.

The public helped identify 17-year-old Dwayne Holden as the suspect seen in the Monday morning video. The disturbing video was broadcast to the public for two days, showing the young robber waving the gun while the 73-year-old victim obeyed every command.

The teen got away with nothing since the man didn’t have any cash. The victim said he was watching the sunrise as his wife prayed inside Adoration Chapel at 1210 Monte Sano Avenue.

Holden was featured just a few weeks ago in The Jail Report after his arrest Aug. 11 for shoplifting. The mugshot above is from that arrest.

The teen remains in the Richmond County Jail right now under no bond for criminal attempted felony.

For more crime news, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report, sold in gas stations for $1.50.

The post Teen, 17, Arrested in Robbery Outside Augusta Church appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

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The Lady Chablis, the transgender performer featured in the 1994 best-seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, died Thursday in Savannah. The Lady Chablis was 59.

Jail Report Publisher Greg Rickabaugh witnessed her appearance in March 1999 in an Aiken courtroom and wrote this article for The Augusta Chronicle:

AIKEN – The Lady Chablis, the outrageous female impersonator featured in the John Berendt novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, later adapted to a movie, spent time in an Aiken jail Monday while waiting for his attorney to pay a hefty fine for traffic charges.

Dressed in a navy-blue dress, Western coat and leopard slippers and wearing no makeup, The Lady Chablis walked in handcuffs into Aiken County Central Court to answer five traffic tickets from January.

He paid a $1,325 fine rather than face 150 days in jail.

A judge in February found the Columbia resident guilty on five traffic charges when he failed to appear in court.

The charges stem from a Jan. 13 traffic stop along Interstate 20 in Aiken County when a Highway Patrol trooper stopped his vehicle and charged him with speeding 100 mph in a 65 mph zone, carrying an open container, displaying an improper tag and having no insurance and no vehicle license.

Aid Bonding Co., which posted his bond in January, sent a bail bond runner to retrieve him from his Columbia home Monday to face five bench warrants.

His Savannah attorney had warned Judge Gail Shaw in a telephone call Monday to refer to The Lady Chablis as “she,” despite a traffic ticket listing The Lady Chablis as a man. The hearing took place just after 4 p.m. before a somewhat bare courtroom.

He crossed his shaven legs at the defendant’s table as sheriff’s Lt. Michael Cain explained the charges to him. The lieutenant then asked him to remove the hat.

“Take off my scarf?” The Lady Chablis asked.

He seemed humiliated as he removed the piece, forcing him to stand in court with disheveled hair that stood straight up.

Asked by Judge Shaw if he was aware he had missed his February court date, The Lady Chablis said he thought Savannah attorney Kathleen Aderhold had taken care of the matter.

In his trademark racy voice, The Lady Chablis quickly apologized to Judge Shaw for the problems he had caused.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he said. “It’s a big misunderstanding. I do try to take every precaution.”

Judge Shaw accepted the apology but sent the actor to jail until the fine was paid.

The Lady Chablis was kept for five hours in an isolated holding cell away from the inmate population. His friend arrived in Aiken County late Monday, paying the fine and resolving the charges.

The Lady Chablis, 42, was born Benjamin Edward Knox, in Quincy, Fla., but he realized early in life that he didn’t fit that name or gender, according to an interview with People magazine in 1996. He started dressing as a woman at age 14 and performing as a drag queen by 17.

A nightclub act in Savannah gave him some notoriety, but it was John Berendt’s best-selling novel that brought celebrity status. He was the only character from the book who played himself in the film, directed by Clint Eastwood.

Since his new-found fame, he has appeared on television programs such as Good Morning America, The Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He wrote an autobiography, Hiding My Candy, and was selected Miss Gay World.

The Lady Chablis still performs frequently in Augusta nightclubs.

But he drew little fanfare during his appearance at Aiken County Central Court along Hampton Avenue. Several sheriff’s officials stood outside, alerted to his impending arrival.

Some joked about the possibility of getting an autograph.

Judge Shaw, however, said she had never seen the book or movie adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The judge and two clerks said they intended to find a copy of the movie and watch it this week.

After the court hearing Monday, the defendant answered reporters’ questions as a jailer walked him to the Aiken County Detention Center. He said his movie and book careers are still going strong.

“Thanks to Aiken, I have a new chapter to write in my new book,” he said, smiling.

Asked what his next movie would be titled, he quickly replied: “Busted in Aiken.”

He asked two newspaper reporters to “please say something positive about me.”

The post When ‘The Lady Chablis’ Visited an Aiken Jail… appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.