Georgia News Roundup

Internet frowns on Gwinnett logo

LAWRENCEVILLE (TNS) — If nearly 200 comments on an Atlanta Journal-Constitution Facebook page are any indication, the online crowd really doesn’t like the front-runner for Gwinnett County’s new logo and slogan.

The colorful overlapping shapes of the logo revealed Tuesday look like a knockoff of the logo for Internet browser Google Chrome, they said. The cursive font used for the slogan — “vibrantly connected” — is hard to read, they said. Why can’t we just bring back the water towers, they said.

I hope it was free, they said.

The logo, slogan and other re-branding efforts — which are not final, could be tweaked and still must be voted on by the county’s Board of Commissioners — in fact cost about $123,000, according to a contract approved by the board in February.

Guest won’t leave motel; SWAT called in

LAWRENCEVILLE (TNS) — A guest’s refusal to leave triggered a 12-hour SWAT standoff at a Gwinnett County extended stay hotel, police said.

The incident started Wednesday afternoon at the Araamda Inn in the 5900 block of Oakbrook Parkway.

Marvin Fernandez, 39, asked to return to his room to retrieve his belongings after the staff told him he was trespassing, police said.

But “as he entered the room,” Gwinnett police Cpl. Michele Pihera said, “he locked himself inside.”

Management at the hotel called 911. A SWAT team arrived when the guest allegedly told police they would have to bust down the door to get him out and that he had a gun, according to Channel 2 Action News.

The hotel was evacuated. SWAT officers sprayed tear gas in the room to end the standoff, the news station reported. No one was injured and the Araamda Inn resumed business as usual.

Fernandez faces theft of services and criminal trespass charges, police said.

Cobb apartment fire displaces 30 people

ATLANTA (TNS) — Eight units were damaged and 32 people were displaced late Wednesday in an apartment fire in Cobb County, according to officials.

No injuries were reported at the Magnolia at Whitlock complex at 925 Whitlock Avenue NW in Marietta, Marietta Fire Department spokeswoman Lindsey Wiles said.

“The fire was contained early to one building,” Wiles said in a emailed statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The incident is under investigation.

The Red Cross will help the displaced residents with immediate needs such as food, clothing, lodging and replacement medications, spokeswoman Divina Mims Puckett said.

Also, caseworkers will stay involved with the displaced residents to help them connect with other resources in the community.

Masked man at convenience store arrested

WARNER ROBINS (TNS) — A 28-year-old cement finisher has been jailed on a charge of masking his face to conceal his identity while in a Warner Robins convenience store.

Deontae Sanquez Cumby of Warner Robins was also arrested on a charge of loitering/prowling in the 3:54 p.m. incident Wednesday at the Sunoco at 2512 Moody Road. The charges are misdemeanors.

Warner Robins police were dispatched about “a suspicious person in the store wearing a bandana,” said Warner Robins Police Assistant Chief John Wagner in an email.

“The store was not robbed nor did the person make any threats to do so — just scared the clerk and customer causing them enough alarm to call 911,” Wagner said in the email.

Cumby was taken into custody at the store. He’s accused of covering his face with a black and gray scarf-like material in order to conceal his identity under Georgia law 16-11-38, Wagner said in the email.

The law prohibits someone from covering their face to conceal their identity on public or private property without the permission of the owner or occupant of the property.

Cumby served about three years of a 10-year prison sentence for conviction of theft by receiving stolen property in Houston County, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website. He was released from prison in July 5 of last year.

Cumby’s bond was set at $2,080, according to online Houston County Detention Center records. A jail arrest and booking report listed his employment as a cement finisher.

Man sought in Houston County slaying

PERRY (TNS) — Houston County sheriff’s investigators were looking for a man wanted in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man last week.

Corey Deshaun Humes, 33, was charged with tampering with evidence and possession of a gun by a felon in connection with the death of Curtis Thomas. Thomas was shot dead Sept. 14 in the front yard of a home not far from the intersection of Feagin Mill and South Houston Lake roads.

Warrants for his arrest were issued Tuesday, according to a Wednesday evening release from the sheriff’s office.

Humes was released from prison in February after serving time for crimes in Houston County, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website. Humes has been convicted of theft by taking, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of meth with intent to distribute.

Humes also goes by the alias “Deshawn,” according to the website.

Two others also were charged in the case.

Cynthia Bragg, 62, and Jennifer Brown-Gammill, 33, are charged with one count each of making false statements and writings.

Bragg was released on a $5,000 bond and Brown-Gammill remained in the Houston County jail Wednesday night.

Investigators have been looking for a black, full-sized truck that was spotted at the time of the shooting in the area of Maplewood and Oakwood drives, but whether the truck or its occupants had been identified remained unclear.