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High-speed chase ends in arrest
RANDALL JOEY FUTCH
Randall Futch

      A man who escaped from the Bryan County Jail stabbed a man and stole his truck, and ended up behind bars again after a high speed chase through Bulloch County Thursday morning.

      Randall Joey Futch, 46, T. H. Lee Road, rammed a Brooklet Police officer near the end of the chase, causing his patrol car to overturn twice, said Georgia State Patrol Trooper First-Class J. B. Hodges, who issued charges against Futch for crimes committed during the chase.

      Sheriff Clyde Smith nor Brooklet Police Chief Mike Buchan returned phone calls Thursday regarding the chase. Bulloch County Sheriff ’s Chief Investigator Capt. Todd Hutchens said the Bulloch County Sheriff ’s Department was briefly involved as deputies joined the chase, which began around 6 a.m. when Futch was spotted in Brooklet on U.S. 80 by Brooklet Police Officer Jonathan McGahee.

      Futch escaped the Bryan County jail sometime Wednesday night, and early Thursday morning, stabbed a man at his Pembroke home before stealing his truck.

      The victim, who suffered injury serious enough to be taken to the hospital, left his truck running and went back inside his home, Hodges said. When he returned, he found Futch “sitting in his truck.”

      The two struggled, with Futch stabbing the victim with what is believed to have been a screwdriver, Hodges said. Futch took the truck and fled from the home which Hodges said was about nine miles east of Pembroke.   McGahee, aware of lookouts posted regarding Futch’s escape and the subsequent stabbing and truck theft, spotted Futch on U.S. 80 in Brooklet and notified other law enforcement before giving chase, he said.

      As Bulloch County Sheriff ’s deputies, Georgia State Patrol troopers and others joined in, Futch fled down Brooklet-Leefield Road to Clito Road, then from there to U.S. 301 North, fleeing into Screven County, Hodges said. Law enforcement officers pursued him to the Cooperville community, where he turned right onto Ga. 17 and continued fleeing, he said. About seven miles from Cooperville, near the Halcyondale community, Futch “intentionally” rammed McGahee’s patrol car, he said.

      McGahee lost control, entered a ditch and flipped twice. He suffered visible injuries that required being taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released, Hodges said. Futch continued fleeing, turning into a field near Halcyondale Road before exiting the truck and running into swampy woodlands on foot, he said. Pursuing officers called for help from the Reidsville K-9 Unit and the Georgia State Patrol Aviation Unit to locate Futch.

      “Aviation did a heck of a job and kind of flushed him ut of the woods,” he said.

      After pursuit by tracking dogs and the helicopter, Futch came out of the swamp around 10 a.m., he said. Hodges charged Futch with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, felony fleeing and ttempt to elude, driving with a suspended license, and reckless driving.

      Hutchens said Futch had recently been sentenced to 10 years on charges stemming from several Bulloch County burglaries, and was in the Bryan County Jail awaiting court proceedings regarding several charges there.

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BCSO: 7 juveniles arrested after attack on child on school bus
Driver charged for failure to report incident
Joey Edwin Jackson
Joey Edwin Jackson

Seven juvenile Bulloch Country Schools students were arrested and a school bus driver faces child cruelty charges after a physical attack occurred on his bus route, according to a release from the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office.

The release states that Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Deputy Julian Carter Brown, who is assigned to the William James Middle School, received a report on April 23 of an attack on a child during the morning bus route of April 18.  

Upon receiving this report, the Sheriff’s Office SRO division opened a criminal investigation into the incident. 

“During this investigation it was determined that seven students, ages 5-14, initiated a physical attack on 7-year-old student during (the April 18) morning bus route to Mattie Lively Elementary,” the release stated.

The child, reportedly, was not seriously injured.

It was determined the attack occurred while the bus was traveling on Highway 301 North.

After reviewing the video footage from the bus camera, the seven students were identified and charged with battery and have been suspended from their respective schools, according to the release.

The information about the arrests of the juveniles will be forwarded to the Department of Juvenile Justice for further court proceedings, the release stated.  

Also, the investigation determined that the bus driver, Joey Edwin Jackson, 70, has been charged with cruelty to children 2nd degree and failure to report child abuse. According to the school district, Jackson did not report the incident to school officials.

In an emailed statement, Hayley Greene, director of Public Relations for the school district, said Jackson was dismissed by the Board of Education on April 25.

“School buses and bus stops are extensions of the classroom,” Greene wrote in the statement. “For this reason, students are expected to behave and follow all school and bus rules and the district’s Student Code of Conduct while they use bus transportation services.

“While federal privacy laws prevent the school district from disclosing specific information about how students are disciplined in the school setting, please know that district leaders are working closely with law enforcement and taking all appropriate steps in accordance with district policies.”
The incident remains under active investigation. The Sheriff’s Office requests that anyone with information about the incident to contact Sgt. Bubba Revell at (912) 486-5926.

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