GOOD EVENING AND THANKS FOR JOINING US FOR EYEWITNESS NEWS AT ELEVEN.
I'M FRANK MALLOY..
AND I'M LEAH JOHNSON..
ON FRIDAY... MACON POLICE ANNOUNCED THEY DROPPED CHARGES AGAINST SEVEN NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS... ORIGINALLY CHARGED WITH RAPE.
FRANK
THE THREE WEEK INVESTIGATION... WAS IN THE MEDIA SPOTLIGHT... AFTER SUPERINTENDENT ROMAIN DALLEMAND ANNOUNCED HE WASN'T AWARE MACON POLICE WERE NOT INVESTIGATING.
A DAY BEFORE MACON POLICE ANNOUNCED THEY OFFICIALLY TOOK OVER THE INVESTIGATION... BIBB INTERIM CAMPUS POLICE CHIEF... STEPHANIE PRATER... WAS PUT ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.
AMY AUBERT RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATION LETTER SENT TO PRATER... AND HAS MORE.
AAU PLASMA
THROUGH AN OPEN RECORDS REQUEST... I RECIEVED *THIS* LETTER NOTIFYING BIBB INTERIM CHIEF OF CAMPUS POLICE... STEPHANIE PRATER... THAT SHE WAS BEING PUT ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.
IT WAS SENT TO PRATER BY THE DISTRICT'S DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF STUDENT AFFAIRS... EDWARD JUDIE.
TAKE GRAPHIC FULL
THIS EXCERPT FROM THE LETTER SAYS SAYS... QUOTE... YOU FAILED TO FOLLOW THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S ESTABLISHED NOTIFICATION PROTOCOL FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT SITUATIONS.
TAKE GRAPHIC
IT GOES ON TO SAY... YOUR FAILURE TO ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE STAFF MEMBERS LED TO CRITICAL STEPS BEING MISSED BY SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF MEMBERS.
AMY PLASMA - DEKO 2
BUT E-MAILS GIVEN TO ME LAST WEEK BY PRATER'S LAWYER... SHOW STEPHANIE PRATER REACHED OUT TO JUDIE THROUGHOUT THE INVESTIGATION.
AMY TOUCHES SCREEN
IN THIS E-MAIL DATED JANUARY 21ST...
TAKE GRAPHIC
PRATER WROTE... WE HAVE TWO STUDENTS IN CUSTODY... INITIAL SUSPECT CONFESSED TO HIS INVOLVEMENT AND IDENTIFIED THREE MORE STUDENTS...
IT GOES ON TO SAY...
TAKE GRAPHIC
OFFICERS DID A WONDERFUL JOB ON THIS CASE ... STILL NO VIDEO EVIDENCE AS OF YET BUT WE ARE STILL LOOKING... AGAIN... I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.
AMY PLASMA - DEKO 2
JUDIE RESPONDED TO THAT EMAIL... QUOTE... GREAT JOB CHIEF...PRATER WROTE BACK TO HIM... QUOTE THANK YOU SIR.
THREE DAYS LATER... ON JANUARY 24TH...
AMY TOUCHES SCREEN
PRATER SENT THIS UPDATE TO JUDIE AND ANOTHER DISTRICT OFFICIAL...
TAKE GRAPHIC
F-Y-I... TWO MORE STUDENTS WERE ARRESTED AND CHARGED ON THE CASE TODAY WHILE WE WERE AT SPRINGDALE.
AMY PLASMA DEKO 2
NOW BACK TO THE NOTIFICATION LETTER... IT SAYS HERE... QUOTE...
TAKE GRAPHIC
IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU ALSO MADE THE DECISION TO DECLINE THE SERVICES OF THE MACON POLICE DEPARTMENT
TAKE GRAPHIC
WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR SUPERVISOR OR SENIOR LEVEL STAFF OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AMY PLASMA DEKO 2
IN THIS E-MAIL ON
AMY TOUCHES MONITOR
JANUARY 25TH... PRATER WROTE...
TAKE GRAPHIC
I AGAIN RECEIVED WORD THAT M-P-D LEADERS ARE STILL VERY ANGRY ABOUT THIS AND HAVE MADE IT KNOWN TO THEIR STAFF... BUT AGAIN...
TAKE GRAPHIC
NO M-O-U EXISTS THAT WOULD SUPPORT THEM IMMEDIATLEY OR IN CONSULTATION... FOR TAKING OVER CASES THAT CLEARLY OCCUR IN OUR JURISDICTION.
AMY PLASMA DEKO 2
IN RESPONSE TO THAT E-MAIL... ALISHA ALLEN-CARTER.... THE ASSITANT TO THE SUPERINTENDENT... WROTE IN PART... YOU ALL HAVE BEEN AWESOME.
CARTER COPIED BOTH JUDIE AND ANOTHER INVESTIGATOR ON THAT E-MAIL.
SUPERINTENDENT DALLEMAND DECLINED TO COMMENT FRIDAY... ON PRATER'S ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.
AMY AUBERT... 13 WMAZ EYEWITNESS
THE LETTER ALSO SAID QUOTE... YOUR DECISION HAS CREATED A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE CAMPUS POLICE DEPARTMENT AS WELL AS IMPACTING THE REPUTATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
WE COULD NOT REACH ROMAIN DALLEMAND FOR COMMENT TODAY.
THE DISTRICT'S PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT... STEPHANIE HARTLEY... SAYS SHE DOESN'T KNOW IF PRATER IS STILL ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.
THE LETTER SAYS SHE'D REMAIN ON LEAVE PENDING THE INVESTIGATION.
AS THIS STORY DEVELOPS, WE'LL BE FOLLOWING IT ON 13-W-M-A-Z, 13-W-M-A-Z-DOT-COM AND MAZ-MOBILE.
SHOULD MACON POLICE FOCUS MORE ON PREVENTING DRUNK DRIVING.... OR METAL THEFTS?
THAT WAS THE TOPIC OF A HEATED DISCUSSION TODAY BEFORE CITY COUNCIL'S PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
WE WERE THERE WHEN MACON'S CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT QUESTIONED THE POLICE CHIEF ABOUT HIS ACTION ON THE ISSUES.
SOT: What's killing our city to me more than DUI is copper and metal thefts.
Strong statements from Macon City Council President James Timley took over part of the Public Safety committee meeting Monday. During the meeting....POLICE CHIEF MIKE BURNS PRESENTED THE CITY'S 2011 CRIME STATS... AND SAID LAST YEAR'S INCREASE IS DUE TO THEFTS.
THAT led TIMLEY to question WHY BURNS HAS MORE OFFICERS ON HIS D-U-I TASK FORCE THAN FIGHTING METAL THEFTS.
sot: To me, the biggest problem in the city would be metal and copper thefts because it's killing our economy.
He says Macon Police should work to dedicate more manpower to fighting such crimes.
Police Chief Mike Burns debated that statement saying DUIs kill more people and cause more monetary damage than any crime. He says he's seen the effects first hand...
SOT: I used to be a traffic fatality investigator, so I know what a DUI driver can do to people and to themselves at it was trying to be compared to people stealing copper. I think it's just like comparing apples to oranges, should have been two seperate conversations.
Burns says he and his investigators are doing what's best for the city with the resources they have.
SOT: We have two investigators assigned to copper thefts but we actually have 16 that actually investigate. There are just two that check on scrap metal dealers and make sure that state laws and city ordinances are followed.
CHIEF BURNS SAYS THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS FOUR OFFICERS DEDICATED TO THE D-U-I TASK FORCE.
HE ALSO SAYS THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES.
THAT'S ANOTHER MAJOR FOCUS FOR THE DEPARTMENT THIS YEAR.
MACON'S POLICE CHIEF SAYS PARTS OF AN ALLEGED HIT AND RUN DRIVER'S CAR LED TO HER ARREST IN A COLLISION THAT KILLED A MAN BACK IN 2010.
CHIEF MIKE BURNS TODAY SAID THE SOUTHEAST REGIONAL TASK FORCE ARRESTED 29 YEAR-OLD LINDSAY MOORE OF FORSYTH IN HOUSTON COUNTY..
HE SAYS SHE'S CHARGED WITH HITTING 46 YEAR OLD WILLIE MOSES OFF EMERY HIGHWAY ON DECEMBER 11, 2010.
MOSES DIED FROM HIS INJURIES.
POLICE SAY THEY IDENTIFIED MOORE...BECAUSE PARTS OF HER SILVER VOLKSWAGEN WERE LEFT BEHIND WHERE THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED.
POLICE ARRESTED MOORE AND TOOK HER TO THE BIB COUNTY JAIL.
SHE'S CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR HOMICIDE AND HIT AND RUN.
A FEDERAL AGENCY SAYS IT PLANS TO FINE A SANDERSVILLE SAWMILL 78 THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS.
IN A NEWS RELEASE, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION SAYS.... IT CITED BEASLEY FOREST PRODUCTS INCorporated FOR 21 VIOLATIONS AFTER AN OCTOBER INSPECTION
OSHA SAYS THEY FOUND 12 SERIOUS SAFETY VIOLATIONS, FOUR SERIOUS HEALTH VIOLATIONS AND FIVE OF WHAT ARE CLASSIFIED AS "OTHER-THAN-SERIOUS" SAFETY VIOLATIONS.
THE NEWS RELEASE SAYS BEASLEY HAS 15 BUSINESS DAYS TO FIX THE PROBLEMS OR APPEAL.
MANY OF THE CITATIONS INVOLVED COMBUSTIBLE DUST IN THE AIR INSIDE THE MILL.
COMPANY OFFICIALS IN HAZLEHURST COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT TODAY.
AN OFFICIAL WITH THE BEVERLY HILLS CORONER'S OFFICE SAYS, QUOTE, "SOME" MEDICATIONS WERE FOUND IN THE HOTEL ROOM WHERE SINGER WHITNEY HOUSTON DIED.
IN HIS REMARKS, HE SAID THE
DRUGS WERE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS, AND ADDED THERE WEREN'T ANY ABNORMALLY LARGE QUANTITIES.
THE OFFICIAL DIDN'T OFFER UP ANY SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE DRUGS.
THAT'S BECAUSE, POLICE SAY, THE INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING.
THEY SAY THE SINGER WAS FOUND AROUND 3:30 IN HER ROOM AT THE BEVERLY HILTON SATURDAY.
POLICE SAID THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF FOUL PLAY.
A CENTRAL GEORGIA MAN SAYS HE HAS MEMORIES OF WHITNEY HOUSTON FROM WHEN SHE WAS JUST A YOUNG GIRL.
FRED DAVISS' PERRY HOME IS COVERED IN PICTURES AND MEMORIES OF HIS 15 YEARS AS JAMES BROWN'S, QUOTE, "MONEY MAN".
DAVISS TRAVELED ON THE ROAD WITH BROWN, WHOM HE CALLED A FRIEND, BUILDING THE SINGER'S BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER ARTISTS.
HOUSTON WAS ONE OF THEM.
BUT DAVISS'S FIRST MEETING WITH HER WAS WHEN SHE WAS A GOSPEL-SINGING 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL.
Fred Daviss: (22:50) "She had such a transformation over the years, from this skinny school girl that nobody would give a second look at unless they heard her sing, but she turned into this glamorous woman."
DAVISS HADN'T SEEN HOUSTON SINCE THE EARLY 90'S.
HE DISCUSSED THE TALK OF DRUG USE THAT SWIRLED AROUND THE SINGER, BUT HE SAID EVERY TIME HE SAW HER, SHE WAS "CLEAR EYED" AND COHERENT".
SOME TWIGGS COUNTY RESIDENTS SAY THEIR AREA NEEDS A NEW AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
THAT'S BECAUSE POLICE AND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SAY IT CAN TAKE UP TO FORTY-FIVE MINUTES FOR A MEDICAL CENTER AMBULANCE TO ARRIVE.
THE MEDICAL CENTER DONATED AN EMPTY AMBULANCE TO THE COUNTY TWO YEARS AGO, BUT COUNTY COMMISSIONER MILTON SAMPSON SAYS TWIGGS DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY EQUIPMENT AND STAFF WITH ITS BUDGET.
SHERIFF DARREN MITCHUM AND COUNTY OFFICIALS SAY THEY HAVE MET WITH THE MEDICAL CENTER ABOUT BUILDING A SUBSTATION IN JEFFERSONVILLE, BUT THAT COST COULD BE A HURDLE.
ACCORDING TO SAMPSON... THE COUNTY ALSO PLANS TO LOOK INTO OTHER OPTIONS FOR E-M-S SERVICES... INCLUDING OTHER NEARBY HOSPITALS... AND PRIVATE COMPANIES.
BY EMAIL....THE MEDICAL CENTER REPORTED THAT ITS E-M-S DIRECTOR... LEE OLIVER.... SAYS THE RESPONSE TIME TO TWIGGS COUNTY IS TWENTY TO THIRTY MINUTES.
A FEW MACON BIBB FIREFIGHTERS HAD TO RESCUE ONE OF THEIR OWN SATURDAY.
CHIEF MARVIN RIGGINS SAYS 45-YEAR-OLD LIEUTENANT DAVID BLOOODWORTH SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK DURING HIS SHIFT AT FIRE STATION 11... OFF RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
BLOODWORTH TOLD KATELYN HECK... HE'S PROUD OF HIS CREW FOR TEAMING UP... AND SAVING HIS LIFE.
NATS)
LIEUTENANT DAVID BLOODWORTH SAYS IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DINNER DURING HIS SATURDAY SHIFT AT FIRE STATION 11...
(SOT: I got up, cleaned my dishes up, was drying my plate up and thats the kast thing i remember that happened to me.)
BLOODWORTH WENT INTO FULL CARDIAC ARREST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STATION KITCHEN... ACCORDING TO OTHER FIREFIGHTERS WHO WERE THERE. THAT MEANS HE HAD NO PULSE....AND WASN'T BREATHING.
TWO FIREFIGHTERS BEGAN C-P-R... AND TWO OTHER HOOKED BLOODWORTH TO A DEFIBRILLATOR.
THEY SAY TRYING TO RESUSCITATE THEIR LIEUTENANT... HIT CLOSE TO HOME.
(SOT: it is just like working on your mom or dad. this is my family.)
MEMBERS OF THE CREW SAY THEY WOULD DO WHATEVER IT TAKES... TO BRING THEIR LEADER BACK TO LIFE.
(SOT: "You just have to put all of that aside and do what you have to do. Our motto is we go in together, we go out together. So we just wanted to make sure that we did what we had to do to make sure he goes home just like we do.")
AN AMBULANCE ARRIVED WITHIN MINUTES...AND BLOODWORTH IS NOW RECOVERING AT COLISEUM MEDICAL CENTER.
HE SAYS HE IS THANKFUL HE WAS IN GOOD HANDS.
(SOT: its unexplainable for me to be able to tell them... thanks for giving me a second chance.)
BLOODWORTH SAYS HE IS USED TO BEING THE RECUER... BOT NOT THE ONE RECUED.
(SOT: I go to work in anticipation of helping somebody every day, hoping I can do somethin to change somebody elses life. But when it happens to you... its a totally different feeling.)
HE SAYS HE PLANS TO RETURN TO WORK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE.
KATELYN HECK13WMAZ EYEWITNESS NEWS
>>
BLOODWORTH SAYS DOCTORS WILL IMPLANT AN INTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR TOMORROW... TO PROTECT HIM IN CASE OF FUTURE HEART ATTACKS.
HE SAYS HE HOPES TO RETURN HOME IN A FEW DAYS.
MEET OUR FACEBOOK FAN OF THE DAY.
THIS IS CASSANDRA CRAFTER.
CASSANDRA ... YOU'LL NEED TO EMAIL FAN OF THE DAY AT 13WMAZ DOT COM TO CLAIM YOUR COFFEE MUG.
NOW, GETTING INTO THE RUNNING FOR FAN OF THE DAY IS AN EASY THREE-STEP PROCESS.
ONE, VISIT FACEBOOK DOT COM SLASH 13WMAZ.
TWO, BECOME A FAN... AND THREE... GET IN ON THE CONVERSATIONS.
WE CHOOSE OUR FAN OF THE DAY AT RANDOM, SO TOMORROW, IT COULD BE YOU.
WE'RE BACK RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK TO LET YOU KNOW JUST HOW LOW THOSE TEMPERATURES WILL DIP OVERNIGHT.
BUT FIRST, WE WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT IT'S THE 13TH OF THE MONTH.
THAT MEANS IT'S TIME TO CALL YOUR FRIEND FOR LIFE AND REMIND HIM OR HER TO DO A MONTHLY BREAST SELF-EXAM.
WE'RE BACK AFTER THIS.