From STAFF REPORTS



CORDELE — An apparent random shooting Sunday night sent one man to the hospital for treatment of a leg wound and left a nearby resident terrified to think about could have happened to children in her home that also was hit by the gunfire.

Cordele Police Department Sgt. Charles Pheil said he rushed to the 900 block of South Joe Wright Drive just before 10 p.m. after receiving a report that a male subject in the vicinity had been shot.

Upon arrival, Pheil said he found Marcus Dean with a T-shirt tied around his right thigh to stop the flow of blood. Seconds later, EMS personnel arrived on the scene and after treating the victim there transported him to the hospital

Two of the victim’s friends told the officer they and Dean had been standing on the sidewalk at the incident location when they heard gunfire coming from the alley just north of them and saw three black males begin to run. They were wearing dark clothing and what appeared to be hooded jackets.

Additional investigation into the incident led to PFC Erica Cromer finding two spent 45-caliber casings and to the discovery that a woman in the area said she heard something strike the north wall of her home.

The bullet did not appear to penetrate the exterior of the residence where the woman said she had three children inside and feared the bullet(s) could have struck them.

Earlier in the day, officers had responded to another in a string of frequent complaints about random shootings.

Sgt. Carrie Lull said she was in the area of 13th St. and 23rd Ave. at 4 a.m. Sunday when she heard shots fired, radioed such to other units and then observed several subjects she described as “agitated.”

As she approached the group, its members ran from the scene. She then went to an apartment witnesses said they had seen the shooters enter. Upon entering, she said several more subjects ran out the back door.

In what she described as “chaotic” conditions, the officer began searching others inside the home but found it difficult to do so as the occupants constantly moved around and yelled at her while denying they were the shooters and providing the identity of suspects they said were guilty of the offense.

The apartment renter, Brittany Nicole Allen, 20, was cited for serious disorderly conduct “due to the fact there have been other shooting incidents where weapons have been found insider her apartment and from persons leaving her apartment as well as shell casings being located outside” her residence.

While at the scene, Lull also charged Stanley Burnam, 27, of 309-A 14th Ave. W., with obstruction of an officer in the performance of her duties.

In other weekend activity, officers:

—Looked into a couple of burglary complaints.

A resident of the 300 block of 19th Ave. E. told Ptl, Chris Forsythe someone entered her home through a side window and after taking her husband’s U.S. Navy ring, 9mm handgun and bracelet from a night stand in the master bedroom exited the home through the back door.

A resident of the 200 block of 15th Ave. E. told Ptl. Forsythe someone entered his home and took $40 worth of meat from a freezer. Nothing else appeared to be missing.

— Said two women filed stalking complaints.

One of the victims told Ptl. Forsythe her estranged husband sends her over 20 text messages and phone calls per day, comes into her place of employment and harasses her.

She said she also was forced to change her place of residence when he went to her former address and knocked on several doors while trying to locate her. The case remains under investigation.

The other victim told Sgt. Lull a man she identified has been making harassing telephone calls to her despite the fact she has previously secured a temporary protective order against him. She said the calls she is receiving from him represent a violation of his probation terms in Turner county.

Lull said she is requesting that a stalking warrant be issued against the man.

— Received an auto theft complaint from a resident of the 1100 block of 12th St. S.

The vehicle owner told Cpl. Bruce Gourley his inoperable 1989 Honda Accord was somehow or other removed from his home Friday afternoon.

— Responded to a vandalism complaint made by a local restaurant patron.

The victim told Sgt. Lull that while eating a meal Saturday night at Golden Corral she heard a request made over the eatery’s intercom that the owner of a Toyota Maxima with Dougherty County license plates come to the front.

Upon doing so, the victim said she was told that an employee had received a call someone was outside using a knife to slash the tires on that car. When she went outside to investigate, another woman told the victim she had seen a tall, bright-skinned heavy-set woman driving a car that looked like hers.

The victim said the description of the offender matched her former girlfriend who since a recent break-up of the couple had been threatening to break her car windows, cut her tires or take her life.

The investigating officer listed no damage estimate for the tires that appeared to be new and also said she is requesting a warrant be issued for the alleged offender.

— Arrested Gerald Keshawn Dennis, 23, of 105 Fourth St. S., for probation violation and failure to appear in city court on traffic tickets and also picked up Ashley Antonio Brown, 36, of 611 Third Ave. E., for failure to pay child support.

—Filed a disorderly conduct charge against Willie Fred Barron, 66, of 203 15th Ave. W., after he struck in the face a man who has been his friend “since the early ’50s.Barron reportedly became angry when the victim, who refused medical treatment for an eye injury suffered in the attack old him to stay out of his refrigerator.

— Went to Wal-Mart Sunday night to investigate the theft of a pressure washer used to clean sidewalks there.

The complainant told Lt. Marvin Milner he saw a young black male load the machine into a green Ford Taurus occupied by another subject and then leave the area traveling west on 16th Avenue.