East Dublin Man Sentenced to Life for Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault
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Saturday, June 9, 2018 YOURThe NEWSPAPER [email protected] Courier• www.courier-herald.com Drawer B, Court Square Station, Dublin, Georgia Herald 31040 • 478-272-5522 Volume 103, No. 113, Pub. No 161860 Child molestation suspect arrested East Dublin man Smith surrenders to LCSO deputies near home By JEREMY JOHNSON tor of Dudley United Methodist and picked him up," Scarbor- sentenced to life A former Dudley pastor Church, on Friday, a day after ough said. wanted on three counts of felony announcing search efforts for He said the LCSO received child molestation turned him- him. reports of possible child mo- self in to the Laurens County Smith surrendered without lestation on June 4 and ob- for armed robbery, Sheriff's Office early Friday incident near his home on Elm- tained warrants for Smith's ar- morning. wood Drive in Dublin, according rest shortly afterward. aggravatedBy JEREMY JOHNSON Salter assault cited bad social influ- LCSO Captain Brian Scar- to Scarborough. Investigators initially be- An East Dublin man previ- ences and mental trauma in borough confirmed the arrest of "We were notified of where lieved that Smith had possibly ously convicted of home inva- his childhood as factors in his Henry Fred Smith, former pas- his location was and we went fled the state. SMITH sion, armed robbery and aggra- crime. It was noted earlier in vated assault was sentenced to the day that Salter's mother life imprisonment on Friday. was working and the family Chief Judge Donny Gillis of had not heard from Salter's fa- the Dublin Judicial Circuit ther in a few years. Salter also sentenced Clifford Salter, 18, to wrote to "sincerely apologize" Dublin among '20 best small towns to visit' life in prison, to serve 30 years, to the victims and to ask the for his role in court for mercy. a June 2016 "I ask that you do not take home inva- my life away," Nelson read sion after from the letter. hearing pro- Nelson also argued that posals from Salter was more of a follower in Assistant Dis- the crime, and while he agreed trict Attorney with the prosecution that Leslie Ray Salter should go to prison, he and defense reminded the court that Per- attorney ry's role as the ringleader was Krather Nel- a factor in his life sentence and son. SALTER pushed for a lesser sentence on On the night of June 19, account of Salter's more pas- 2016, Salter, Austin Perry and sive role. Jalen Lowe masked their faces Ray opened the prosecu- with T-shirts and entered the tion's statements by citing a Vinson Village apartment of a pre-sentencing investigation single mother with autistic report she provided to Gillis. twins, stealing $1,800 while The report listed several previ- holding all three victims at ous incidents on Salter's gunpoint. record, including an aggravat- In a May 23 trial, Salter was ed assault in 2011 and theft by found guilty on 16 counts, in- taking in 2015, when Salter cluding one count of home in- was a juvenile. Ray also argued vasion in the first degree, two that while Salter may not have counts of armed robbery, three planned the crime, he was ag- counts of criminal attempt to gressive in committing it. commit armed robbery, three "It has become clear that counts of aggravated assault Mr. Salter was the most ag- and seven counts of false im- gressive," Ray said, adding prisonment. Perry, 19, the that Salter was vigorously mastermind of the crime, was "pointing guns" and "corralling found guilty on similar counts victims" during the incident. and sentenced to life on March "That counts against him as 12. much as not being the master- In his opening statement, mind counts for him." Photo by Payton Towns III Nelson read a letter written by Ray also used Salter's histo- Salter to the court in which See SALTER page 8a Consoles at various landmarks, like this one at Dublin Carnegie, play audio for visitors about the history of each site. The audio tour and the Carnegie were among locations included in a recent feature by Smithsonian Magazine that listed Dublin as one of its 20 best small towns to visit in 2018. Community leaders, tourism officials honored By PAYTON TOWNS III Ketchum, Idaho, Ocracoke, because they knew how to graphical information from a byDublin recognition has been named one N.C. and from Sault Ste. Marie,Smithsonianmarket us. They have a great Magazinefirm called Esri, which looked of "20 best small towns to visit Mich. in the feature published product to market. Without at small towns with a popula- in 2018" by Smithsonian Mag- June 5. their expertise, this would not tion under 20,000 to select the azine. "That is big time," said have happened." the top 20 list. They selected The Emerald City was se- Dublin Mayor Phil Best. "This Dublin City Manager Lance the towns that combined his- lected along with Corning, is rewarding a lot of folks who Jones agreed. toric elements with distinct N.Y., Hanapepe, Hawaii, have worked really hard to "I'm proud of this town. I cultural offerings, natural Pendleton, Ore., North Con- make our community better. know a lot of people have beauty, festivals and lore. way, N.H., Gering, Neb., Lau- I've had several people call and worked very hard during the "This is amazing," said Re- rel, Miss., Easton, Md., Kodi- congratulate us. It's rewarding last couple of years to improve becca McWilliam, executive di- ak, Ala., Mystic, Conn., Per- the folks who made the invest- Dublin and it certainly shows," rector of Visit Dublin. "People ham, Minn., Skowhegan, ment on the private side, too, Jones said. "The Smithsonian who read The Smithsonian are Maine, Latrobe, Penn., Salida, to help make us a top 20 city. I picked us out and that is unbe- the perfect target and demo- Colo., Luray, Va., Eureka think Rebecca McWilliam and lievable to me." Springs, Ark., Trinidad, Calif., her team need to be called out The magazine received geo- See TOWN page 8a City Council honors police and firefighters, presentsBy KELLY LENZ first Julie S. Driger Award at meeting The Dublin City Council honored Dublin Police Depart- ment officers and Dublin Fire Department investigators for apprehending a juvenile who was arrested for starting a re- cent fire at a Moore Street home during its regular meet- ing Thursday. Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler said DPD Sgt. Stan Garrett was responding to a call in the area on May 14 when he noticed smoke coming from a residence on 304 W. Moore St. "He turned around and no- ticed more smoke coming from the house and called the fire department for assistance," GRIDIRON GRIN Cutler said. "Garrett then spoke with a resident who told This future Crusader was all smiles as he ran him there were more people in the last leg of a race Thursday evening at Trini- the house." ty Christian School's Junior Football Camp at Photo by Kelly Lenz He immediately turned Cleve Warnock Field. For more on the camp, around to investigate, Cutler said. "The residence at West Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler (far right) recognizes DPD Sgt. Stan see Sports, page 1b. (Photo by Rodney Manley) Moore had heavy smoke com- Garrett (from left), DFD Sgt. James Bridges, DPD Det. Lt. Stacey Sapp, ing from it. He immediately re- quested assistance from the and DFD Sgt. Tyler Williamson during Thursday night's meeting. fire department and he “With no regard for his per- "Had Sgt. Garrett not taken him for his actions in assisting Index sonal safety, he assisted the the actions that he took on the residents of the house on checked to see if anyone was in Obituaries . 2a the house. He encountered one residents out of the burning that evening, we would have behalf of the Dublin Fire De- Around the Region . 3a male subject outside who told house," he said. "One of the had a serious civilian fire in- partment. him there were more people residents was physically dis- jury or possibly a fire fatality. Cutler then recognized Sgt. 85 Years Ago . 4a inside." abled and used a walker. Sgt. So I would like to personally James Bridges and Sgt. Tyler Weather . 5a Cutler said that Garrett Garrett successfully evacuated thank him for going above and Williamson, of the Dublin Fire Religion Digest . 6a-7a "realized he had to do some- everyone prior to the arrival of beyond the call of duty," Cutler Department. Sports . 1b-2b thing" since the fire depart- our fire units, which were on said. "Sgt. Bridges started with Entertainment . 1c-3c ment had not yet arrived. the scene in just over two min- He then presented Garrett utes. with a plaque commending See CITY page 8a Classifieds. 4c-8c Saturday, June 9, 2018/Dublin, Ga/Page 2a The Courier Herald kins, Cole Rowland, Mac full life of helping others, Funeral services will be Obit uarie s Rowland, Bill Dominy and giving advice and making held at 3 p.m. Sunday, June Tommy Rowland. The Fam- sure everyone around her 10, at Southerland Funeral ily will receive friends at was happy. Chapel, with interment in Betty L. Hopkins Tomlinson Funeral Home Candi was a devout Poplar Springs Cemetery. Saturday evening between Christian and loved prais- Dean was a member of The Courier Herald Mrs. Betty Lou Hopkins, the hours of 6-8 p.m. ing and worshipping with Poplar Springs Baptist GRIFFIN LOVETT, Publisher 82, resident of Norristown Survivors include son others. She would witness Church and a retired DUBOSE PORTER, Executive Editor since 1961, died Thursday and daughter-in-law David to anyone at anytime and forester.