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Buie, wife face charges

• Don Buie is the downtown manager and head of ADICA.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Albany’s downtown manager issued a public apology Wednesday after he and his wife were arrested on misdemeanor charges following a domestic quarrel Tuesday night.

Don Buie, 40, and his wife Shanon, 31, each were charged Wednesday with misdemeanor offenses and released on $1,000 bond after warrants were filed with the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, jail officials say.

According to police reports, Don Buie was charged with interfering with a 911 call after his wife told police that he snatched a phone out of the wall while she was calling police.

Shanon Buie was charged with simple battery after her husband told police that during the course of their argument, she slapped him in the face and ripped his clothes, police reports show. In their statement that was released to the media Wednesday afternoon, both Buies express their sorrow and embarrassment that their argument ballooned into an “emotion-driven escalation.”

“My wife Shanon and I have always enjoyed a loving and committed relationship. While we have had, like any married couple, our disagreements in the past, the emotion-driven escalation that occurred on July 15th has never happened before and, God willing, will never happen again,” the statement reads.

Officially hired as the city of Albany’s downtown manager, Don Buie is charged with the revitalization of the heart of the city and serves as the head of the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority.

According to the police report filed with the Albany Police Department, police responded to the Buie’s home on the 400 block of Corn Avenue after Shanon Buie called and told police that Don Buie was “destroying their home.”

Shanon Buie told police that she and her husband had been arguing about his activities on the social networking site Myspace, when it escalated into a domestic dispute, the report says.

According to the report, when police arrived, they found clothes on the ground outside several windows of the home, a computer monitor dangling from a cord outside a window and several other items that looked to have been thrown out of the windows of the home.

In their statement, the Buies say they regret the incident and intend to get professional help.

“We intend to seek counseling with a loving and committed heart. We both deeply regret the incident and do sincerely apologize to the community for any embarrassment we may have caused,” the statement reads.

Jane Willson, an ADICA board member, said she did not feel comfortable talking about Buie’s personal situation with The Herald, but was hopeful it would get worked out.

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