JacksonHeraldTODAY

A 51-year-old man died Saturday in a drowning accident in Jackson County.

The victim was fishing in a small pond off of Crooked Creek Road when his boat capsized and he fell in, according to EMS director Steve Nichols. He was unable to swim to shore. A friend was reportedly on the bank fishing and saw him go in and called 911 for assistance.

The Jackson County Dive Team recovered the victim with assistance from South Jackson Fire/Rescue.

As result of a search warrant executed Wednesday, March 6, at a residence in Jefferson by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Jefferson Police Department, the GBI has charged Grady Garrish, 37, of Market Way in Jefferson, with possession of child pornography after images of child porn were found on his computer.

After completing forensic previews of a computer at the residence, agents obtained warrants charging Garrish with two counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Pornography). Garrish was transported to the Jackson 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 porn 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. The Task Force consists of 155 affiliate Georgia law enforcement agencies.

In 2008, the Georgia ICAC Task Force made 109 arrests and in 2009 made 164 arrests. In 2010, the Task Force made 162 arrests and in 2011, made 173
arrests. There were a total of 163 arrests made in 2012. There have been 985 arrests in Georgia by the ICAC Task Force since it was established in 2002.

Danny Joe Fowler of Jackson County was arrested Tuesday evening after running from law enforcement officers when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Hoods Mill Road near East Jackson Middle School.

Sheriff Janis Mangum said Tuesday night that a deputy pulled over a car and the driver ran from the scene. The deputy chased the man and other law enforcement officers came to the area to join in the manhunt.

Banks County had a lookout for the car on an armed robbery charge. Fowler allegedly stole the car at knife-point. There was a rifle in the car and Fowler reportedly took it when he ran from the traffic stop.

Several canine units, as well as law enforcement officers from the Georgia State Patrol, Banks County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office joined in the chase. They set up a perimeter around an area on South Apple Valley Road/Potts Road where Fowler was spotted and he was captured.

The traffic stop was around 4 p.m. and Fowler was apprehended at approximately 6:30 p.m. He is facing numerous charges in Jackson and Banks counties.

A Jackson County deputy was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center and treated for hypothermia he suffered during the chase.

Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have completed an in depth investigation of an incident regarding an alleged sexual assault of a juvenile.

The mother reported that several teenage boys drove the juvenile victim to a residence within Jackson County where the alleged crimes occurred.
During the course of the investigation, a forensic interview and evaluation was conducted with the victim. Investigators conducted a search warrant at the alleged location, with the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Jackson County Investigators located and recovered several pieces of evidence corroborating the victim’s statement.

Joshua Lee Saucier, 17, was arrested and charged with child molestation, aggravated child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Nicholas Wayne Joiner, 18, was arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Montel Eugene Reynolds, 18, was arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, party to the crime of child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.

Two additional males, who were juveniles at the time of incident, were arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and cruelty to children in the first degree. A third male, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident, faces charges of enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation, aggravated child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office made three arrests Sunday in an incident involving an explosive device.

Catherine McClaine Martin, 17, and two juveniles were arrested and charged with reckless conduct after a an explosive device was thrown from their vehicle.

On Sunday, shortly after 10 a.m., deputies were dispatched to an address on Harris Lord Cemetery Road after witnesses reported that an explosive device had gone off in the front yard of the residence. A plastic bottle and pieces of aluminum foil were located where the explosion had occurred.

A lookout for the suspect vehicle and a description of the driver was given to Jackson County Communications by the deputies on the scene. A vehicle matching that description was spotted by a deputy and a subsequent traffic stop was conducted on Highway 441 near Commerce.

During the course of the traffic stop, the driver reportedly admitted involvement in the incident, and said that she was familiar with the persons at the address where the device was found.

The incident remains under investigation to determine any further charges.

Citizens are encouraged to notify their local law enforcement agencies of any suspicious persons, crimes or other relevant information by calling 911 or the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office at 706-367-8718.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office arrested a fugitive on Tuesday who was wanted on armed robbery charges.
James Alvin Pressley, 32, Pendergrass, was arrested in Commerce after being located by an alert off-duty deputy who called for on-duty deputies to make the arrest. Pressley reportedly did resist arrest but was taken into custody after a struggle.

Pressley is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on the following charges: armed robbery, robbery, aggravated assault, reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, riving on the wrong side of the road and stop sign and yield sign violations.

Pressley had been sought for one week after deputies located him and attempted to arrest him on the initial charges of aggravated assault, robbery and robbery and armed robbery in connection with an incident that occurred on Dec. 28 in Arcade.

On Tuesday, Jan. 8, Pressley reportedly attempted to hit a deputy sheriff head-on in his patrol car, causing the deputy to leave the roadway to avoid the collision. A deputy responding to the call for assistance in Pressley’s apprehension lost control of his patrol car and crashed. The deputy was transported to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville and was treated and released. Sheriff Janis Mangum met with the deputy an his family after he arrived at the hospital.

“Pressley is a prime example of those carrier criminals who steadily become more and more violent, jeopardizing the public and the law enforcement officers who engage him time after time,” Sheriff Mangum said. “I intend to see that the court is well aware of the violence, injury and expense involved in this particular case and will work to assure that it doesn’t happen again for a long time.

A man died last week after wrecking and being ejected from his vehicle.

On December 5, the Harrisburg Fire Rescue, Commerce Rescue, and Jackson County EMS responded to Apple Valley Road, Jefferson, on a reported auto accident with injuries and fire. Upon arrival, they found a one-vehicle accident which had ejected the driver and the vehicle was fully involved with fire. The driver, a male victim, was pronounced dead on the scene from his injuries.

The Georgia State Patrol and the Jackson County Coroner’s Office are investigating the incident..