The Port Wentworth Police Department is investigating after the aggravated and sexual assault of a disabled woman.
The victim told investigators the suspect said he was a city employee and tried to enter her home by saying he needed to do an inspection, said detective Brian Phinney.
The suspect is described as a white male in his mid- to late-30s, about 6 feet tall with a potbelly and sandy brown or blonde hair.
During the assault, he was wearing bluish-grey work pants, a matching, long-sleeved work shirt, brown boots and an orange safety vest with silver, reflective strips, Phinney said.
He had a plastic, rectangular identification holder with a photograph on it clipped to the left side of the vest and wore a baseball cap, the detective added.
All city of Port Wentworth employees are issued ID cards and will present them upon request if not already displayed, Phinney said.
The Port Wentworth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect.
Anyone with knowledge of this person is asked to call the Port Wentworth Police Department at 912-401-0528 or CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020.
Man shot overnight in Tremont Park
A 22-year-old Savannah man was hospitalized early Friday morning after he was shot near Tremont Park.
The victim underwent surgery at Memorial University Medical Center, where he was rushed after he entered a house in the 2100 block of Dodge Avenue seeking help for his wounds just before 4 a.m., said Julian Miller, Savannah-Chatham police spokesman.
Several houses in the area were struck by bullets during the incident, Miller said.
Savannah-Chatham police officers recovered weapons at the scene after responding to the shooting call on Ford Avenue, about a block from where the victim was found.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the case, Miller said. They are looking into a possible connection to the shooting of a white Chevrolet Impala found wrecked on Tremont Avenue.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
A confidential tip line also is open directly to investigators at 912-525-3124.
Suspect sought in woman’s beating
Violent crimes detectives are asking the public’s help in finding a 23-year-old man wanted for beating his ex-girlfriend.
Tairee White is wanted by Savannah-Chatham police for aggravated battery stemming from an incident Thursday in which he hospitalized the woman during the alleged attack in the 10,000 block of Abercorn Street, said Julian Miller, police spokesman.
Miller said White is known to frequent Savannah’s Westlake Apartments.
Anyone with information on his location is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
Police seek theft suspects
Detectives from the Savannah-Chatham police’s Downtown Precinct are asking for the public’s help in locating two people suspected of theft.
Police spokesman Julian Miller said 21-year-old Dwayne Jayronne Ellison and 30-year-old Corin Elisce Gibbons are wanted on separate warrants.
Ellison faces charges of burglary and theft by deception.
Gibbons, of a Wisteria Street address, is wanted for theft by taking.
Miller described her as a black female about 5 feet 5 inches and 190 pounds.
No description of Ellison was provided.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
Family displaced in Thursday night fire
A mother and her three children were displaced Thursday afternoon when a fire did major damage to the Savannah home they rented.
No one was home when the blaze started at the house at 1149 Darwin St., said Harry Walker, an American Red Cross spokesman.
Savannah Fire & Emergency Services firefighters responded about 9 p.m. and extinguished the blaze, but much of the structure and the family’s belongings were destroyed, Walker said.
The Red Cross Disaster Team provided the family with temporary shelter and food.
“The 38-year-old mother of three says she is grateful for the care in which the Red Cross people provided to her and her family when they needed it most,” Walker said. “She said she (planned to) go to the Red Cross office on Friday to seek more assistance in finding permanent housing, just as the Red Cross volunteers advised her to do.”
Man pleads guilty
in drug case
A former state Department of Juvenile Justice lieutenant on Thursday pleaded guilty in Chatham County Superior Court to a theft-by-taking charge for fraudulently using fuel cards to buy gas in exchange for drugs.
According to the Georgia Department of Law news release, Jerry Byrd was sentenced by Judge Louisa Abbot to five years probation, $1,000 in restitution to the Department of Juvenile Justice, 200 hours of community service and substance abuse and treatment.
An internal investigation that started after a series of suspicious fuel purchases were noticed led to Byrd, 42, of Savannah, confessing to 30-40 unauthorized fuel purchases using the fuel card for his private vehicle, as well as fueling the cars of drug dealers in exchange for cocaine, the release said.
Byrd, who was a lieutenant at the time of the offenses, was terminated in January 2010 when he admitted to the fraudulent card purchases, department spokeswoman Lauren Kane said Friday.
The transactions occurred at gas stations around Chatham County, she said. Each of the department cars has a fuel card assigned to it, she said.
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Hiatt prosecuted the case.
Compiled by Corey Dickstein and Jan Skutch