Sheriff's Office, City Police Departments Receive No Reports of Accidents with Injuries

The Fourth of July weekend and holiday were fairly safe for drivers traveling in Barrow County.

, and the saw no reports of accidents with injuries over the 72-hour holiday driving period, which began Friday evening and ended at midnight Tuesday.

“We had accidents,” Sheriff Jud Smith said, “but nothing more than fender benders.”  

The sheriff’s office issued 42 citations over the holiday driving period. Deputies performed three road safety checks that resulted in three drivers being charged with DUI, two charged with possession of marijuana, one driver charged with operating a vehicle on a suspended license and another with driving without a license. Five citations were written for violation of the law requiring children to be in seat belts.

Police Chief Dennis Dorsey said the weekend and Fourth of July holiday went smoothly in the city of Winder.

“It was a pretty uneventful weekend, which is what we like,” he said. “We didn’t have anything unexpected.”

Dorsey said the department focused on traffic and brought in a couple extra patrol officers.

Overall, the department arrested one individual for possession of marijuana, charged two drivers with driving without insurance and four with driving with an expired license. One individual was arrested for public intoxication.

“I’m pleased with all of our officers’ efforts and believe their efforts are the reason we prevented a lot of problems,” Dorsey said. “All in all it was an uneventful weekend.”

Deputies with the sheriff’s office responded to 74 calls for service over the weekend, including an armed robbery at a Tanners Bridge Road residence, where the resident reported two assailants struck him in the head before stealing his wallet.  

“All in all, we had a great weekend,” Smith said. “We were busy — obviously 70 something calls to answer — but to be that busy and not have a major thing happen other than the armed robbery, we did pretty well.”

Police Chief Paul Nadeau said that while crowds gathered in Auburn for the city's Independent Day Celebration, no major incidents occurred in the downtown area or elsewhere.

"We had no issues to speak of," he said. "It was quiet, pretty much we stayed in the venue area and officers that were on duty of course patrolled the neighborhoods."