Red Cross assisting 10 families displaced in southside fire
Ten families were displaced late Thursday evening after a fire tore through several southside Savannah apartments.
All eight apartments in a building at Live Oak Plantation Apartments, in the 8500 block of Waters Avenue, were completely destroyed, said Red Cross spokesman Harry Walker. Friday afternoon, the Red Cross had conducted follow-up interviews with six of those families to assess their immediate needs.
The organization is continuing to reach out to the other four families to offer more assistance, Walker said. If they need to, all 10 families can remain in a hotel through the weekend, he added.
Since the fire broke out, Walker said, Red Cross volunteers and staff have worked tirelessly to provide shelter and funds for food and clothing to the families left homeless by the blaze. They’ve had to replace eyeglasses for members of two families, he said.
Walker said the incident was the second major apartment fire this week, including the Sunday blaze at a complex off Rainbow Drive.
So far, the Red Cross has spent more than $13,000 on those two fires. Walker said that total will likely rise.
Man sentenced to 20 years in kidnappings
A 36-year-old Pembroke man who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from kidnappings in 2011 and 2012 was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Avant Edenfield sentenced Gary Leon McDonald to serve 20 years, with no chance of parole, followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the Dec. 1, 2011, and the Jan. 12, 2012, kidnappings of Pembroke businessmen. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $500,000 to the victims.
McDonald pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnappings and cooperated in the investigation and prosecution of co-defendants Antonio Lamont Murray and Cecil DeWitt Nelson, both of whom were convicted for their roles in the two kidnappings and sentenced to life in prison, said James D. Durham, first assistant U.S. District Attorney.
The judge took into consideration McDonald’s willingness to cooperate, Durham said.
The convictions of McDonald, Murray and Nelson stemmed from an investigation conducted by many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Durham said.
Man charged in July shootout
Savannah-Chatham police on Friday arrested a 23-year-old man on charges related to a July 2012 shootout on Savannah’s eastside that left one man dead.
Raheem Saamad Hicks, of East 39th Street, was captured by U.S. Marshals from the Southeast Regional Firearms Task Force, Savannah-Chatham violent crimes detectives, crime suppression officers and canine officers Friday morning.
Savannah-Chatham police investigators determined the July 24 shootout in the 200 block of South Avalon Drive stemmed from an ongoing dispute between Hicks and Rasheed Johnson, said Julian Miller, police spokesman. Johnson was found dead at the scene after the shooting.
Miller said Hicks was driving a white Hyundai Sonata and 25-year-old Richard Antonio Jiles was in the vehicle with him when the shootout occurred.
The Sonata crashed into a house on Avalon after both Hicks and Jiles were shot, Miller said. Hicks was taken to Memorial University Medical Center by a neighbor and Jiles was transported by ambulance.
Hicks faces charges including possession of a firearm while committing a crime, terroristic threats and acts, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon stemming from the shooting. He also faces four unrelated felony warrants for robbery, possession of illegal substances with intent to distribute, and two counts of burglary, Miller said.
Guns were found underneath Johnson’s body, in the front seat of the wrecked car and on the lawn where the shooting occurred, Miller said.
CAT announces St. Patrick’s Day shuttles
Chatham Area Transit will provide a shuttle March 16 to St. Patrick’s Day events downtown from three locations in Chatham County.
Buses will be available from 7 a.m. to noon, leaving from the Westside Shopping Center on U.S. 80 in Garden City, the Island Towne Center on Whitemarsh Island near Wal-Mart, and from Savannah Mall near the Dillard’s parking lot adjacent to Apache Avenue.
Shuttles will begin return trips from the parade area in downtown Savannah at 11 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.; regular CAT routes will be available to take patrons back to their vehicles after that time.
The 3A and 3B routes will return within a block of the Westside Shopping Center, so patrons would have to walk; the 10 East Savannah route will return to the Island Towne Centre; and the 114X Abercorn Express will return to Savannah Mall.
A round-trip St. Patrick’s Day shuttle pass will cost $5 and include trips to and from downtown, including the extended late-night service that will run from midnight to 4 a.m. Sunday.
Passes can be purchased at the shuttle locations and patrons are asked to have correct change.
March 16 on the Savannah River, the Savannah Belles Ferry will begin traveling between the City Hall landing and the Trade Center landing. Normal ferry schedule will resume after 6:30 p.m.
Tybee bacteria advisory lifted
A swimming advisory for Tybee Island’s Polk Street Beach issued Tuesday afternoon has been lifted.
The advisory, which covered the northernmost part of Tybee at the mouth of the Svannah River from the beach’s end to the jetty, was issued after higher than normal levels of enterococci bacteria were found in the water during routine testing, said Sally Silbermann, Chatham County Health Department spokeswoman.
The bacteria increases the risk of gastrointestinal illness in swimmers.
Recent water samples show the bacteria had dropped below the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limits so the advisory was lifted, Silbermann said.
Whitefield Avenue closure canceled
Scheduled bridge work that was to close a section of Whitefield Avenue near the Truman Parkway on Saturday and Sunday has been canceled, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced Friday.
The work will be rescheduled for a later date.
Compiled by Corey Dickstein