Alando Ray Johnson, 33, was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in the Atlanta area by U.S. Marshals, according to Gainesville Police Lt. Kevin Holbrook.
The Gainesville Police Department has charges related to the October 2020 armed robbery at the Hibachi Express on Thompson Bridge Road as well as the December 2020 armed robbery of the Walgreen s on South Enota [Drive], Holbrook said.
Johnson faces a long list of charges in Gainesville including five counts of armed robbery, five counts of aggravated assault, four counts of kidnapping, five counts of terroristic threats, two counts of theft by taking, two counts of firearm possession by a convicted felon and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Column: Deciding where to eat was a pleasant problem to have in Hall County Johnny Vardeman
Local Facebook users have been reminiscing about their favorite restaurants in days gone by.
The topic has generated a proliferation of posts of past popular eating places around Hall County.
Often mentioned are such businesses as L&K Cafeteria on Broad Street/Jesse Jewell Parkway, Clore’s on North Bradford Street in downtown Gainesville, Ronnie and Carol Lance’s Beef Corral on Atlanta Highway and Sycamore Street, now E.E. Butler Parkway.
Who could forget those hoecake-sized biscuits at Frazier’s on Gainesville’s west side? Carisa Gillespie Burch wrote that she used to make 800 to 1,000 biscuits on Friday and Saturday mornings when she worked there.
A Dahlonega woman was arrested Friday and faces a felony theft by taking charge after she allegedly stole nearly $107,000 from the North Hall County church she worked for.
According to a press release from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, a preliminary investigation found that 49-year-old Alycia Christy took the funds from Northlake Baptist Church on Thompson Bridge Road between Jan. 2018 and Jan. 2021.
Investigators first learned of the theft when deputies responded to the church on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Church officials had discovered that Christy had been stealing the funds, according to the release.
The release states Christy, an administrative assistant at the church, had used the money to pay credit card bills.
Column: How much do you know about local history? Johnny Vardeman
It’s time for another local history trivia quiz.
Some of these questions have appeared in this column previously, so readers should be able to score high marks.
1. Who was the longtime president of Riverside Military Academy credited with growing the school and bringing it into national prominence?
2. Who was the founder of the Industrial School that once operated off Athens Highway in Gainesville?
3. What was the name of the Hall Countian who operated a private mint during North Georgia’s gold mining days?
4. Where was Gainesville’s first golf course located?
Clipper Petroleum received two special-use and one rezoning approval from the Gainesville City Council Tuesday evening allowing for the construction of a 4,500-square foot convenience store on Thompson Bridge Road at Christopher Drive.
The business will also feature a dozen gasoline pumps where users will be protected from the weather by an overhead canopy.
Clipper Petroleum President and CEO Tom Bower said he was disappointed that evening but determined to make adjustments to the plan in order to gain approval, including addressing the concerns of neighbors who spoke in opposition before the Planning and Appeals Board.
“The main reason (for opposition) was the traffic they thought would be added to Christopher as a cut-through street,” Bower said. As to subsequent conversations he had with neighbors who spoke in opposition to his application at that November meeting, “We had a good conversation with them and they were very reasonable.”