Georgia News Briefly — April 4, 2016

Thousands released from detention centers

ATLANTA (TNS) — The government is routinely releasing people with criminal convictions from immigration detention centers in Georgia and across the nation because their native countries aren’t cooperating in repatriating them, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of records obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Between October of 2011 and December of 2014, federal immigration authorities released people with convictions 105,632 times nationwide, the records show. Many had been convicted of traffic offenses, including driving under the influence. Others served time for more serious charges, such as assault, rape and homicide.

In a letter to Congress in February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided an updated list of 23 “recalcitrant” countries, or ones that have been uncooperative in accepting the return of their citizens. The list includes: Afghanistan, China, Cuba, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya and South Sudan. ICE said it and the U.S. State Department have been working to improve cooperation with those nations, resulting in some progress.

Police: Dating ads used in robberies

ATLANTA (TNS) — A 28-year-old woman used a Craigslist dating ad to lure a man to a Brookhaven hotel, where he was robbed with the help of a 33-year-old accomplice, police said.

U.S. Marshals arrested Autumn Bailey and accused accomplice Jezlias Maysonet in DeKalb County on Friday, more than two weeks after the man who responded to the ad met Bailey at the Courtyard Atlanta Executive Park, Brookhaven police Maj. Brandon Gurley said.

On March 16, Bailey and the man decided to get a room at the hotel together. She “told the victim that he would have to pay for the room in cash so they could avoid a paper trail,” Gurley said.

The man presented the cash, but Maysonet ran up and snatched the money, Gurley said. Bailey and Maysonet fled the scene, he said.

Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta told Channel 2 Action News the man ran after the suspects, recorded their license plate number and reported the pair had stolen $140 from him.

According to Crime Stoppers, Bailey was at it again three days later in Duluth in Gwinnett County. While details about that incident were not released, investigators believe she may have targeted married men.

There could be more victims out there, officials said. Bailey and Maysonet, both of Cleveland, Ga., were taken to the DeKalb County Jail. Bailey was charged with robbery, and Maysonet was charged with theft by deception.

New father killed in plant accident

ATLANTA (TNS) — Officials on Monday were looking into a weekend plant accident that killed an employee at Shaw Industries Plant 15 in Cartersville.

David Holland, 56, fell into a large machine Saturday while performing routine maintenance at the carpet mill, which is about 47 miles northwest of Atlanta on Highway 411.

“The health and safety of Shaw’s associates is our top priority,” the company told Channel 2 Action News in a statement. “Shaw will be conducting an investigation into the matter. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our associate during this difficult time.”

Holland lived about 20 miles from the plant in Polk County, and he and his wife had just had their first child in February.

An additional Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into what happened at the plant is ongoing.

Tornado confirmed in Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS (TNS) — A twister cut a 4.2 mile swath through Warner Robins just after 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday night what those who lived through it already knew, a tornado blew through on April Fools Day.

The survey team’s report shows an EF-1 tornado touched down at 7:42 a.m. about a half mile northeast of Centerville and lifted about a half mile north of Warner Robins.

The twister initially took out trees along Sentry Oaks Drive, briefly gained steam with up to 90 mph winds and tore across Napier Avenue, Fisher Street and Carter Circle.

DeKalb school administrators hired

ATLANTA (TNS) — Three administrators with ties to DeKalb Schools Superintendent Steve Green from his previous job were recently made permanent hires, the district said in a release Friday, months after arriving at the district as interim staffers.

Leo Brown will continue as chief human capital management officer, Eileen Houston-Stewart will continue as chief communications and community relations officer and Manomay Malathip will continue as executive director for student advancement. All three worked with Green when he was superintendent for Kansas City Public Schools.

The three applied for the job through a national search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, while serving their interim appointments, the release states. Specifics about the search — including how much the search firm was paid, how many recommendations were brought forth to the district for vetting — have not been made available.

“I did my due diligence to determine how best to improve the functions of the Central Office,” Green said in the release. “It included personal observations, conversations, evaluations and examining previous reviews. DeKalb is fortunate that we have recruited these highly-respected educators to join our team.”

Green told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in February he was confident in his interim selections, noting he would allow the process to play out and the best candidates to take over the jobs.

“I think it speaks to the confidence in their own ability,” Green said then. “Even if things don’t work out, there was the intent that they would perhaps … the next chapter of their career would begin (in metro Atlanta), anyway.”