Howard Sills

Paul Matthew Kroening sits handcuffed beside the tractor he is accused of stealing as the tractor’s owner, Tim Camp, checks it out. Sheriff Howard Sills pulled the tractor over on Lake Oconee Parkway near Anchors Marina. CONTRIBUTED

Paul Matthew Kroening sits handcuffed beside the tractor he is accused of stealing as the tractor’s owner, Tim Camp, checks it out. Sheriff Howard Sills pulled the tractor over on Lake Oconee Parkway near Anchors Marina. CONTRIBUTED

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Homeless man allegedly steals tractor to drive to Flying J

Lynn Hobbs
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
A homeless man was walking along Georgia Hwy. 44 in Putnam County on May 31 when he spotted a tractor sitting in a field. A few minutes later, the man reportedly was driving the John Deere 4900 tractor on the road he had just been walking along.
Eatonton police officers, fire department personnel and Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies at the Shell Food Mart on Sumter Street where a shooting happened Sunday. CONTRIBUTED

Eatonton police officers, fire department personnel and Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies at the Shell Food Mart on Sumter Street where a shooting happened Sunday. CONTRIBUTED

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UPDATED: Man shot, killed at gas station in Eatonton, suspect found

Lynn Hobbs
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
An Eatonton man was shot at the Shell Food Mart Sunday afternoon and later died at the hospitals, authorities say. The alleged shooter was in custody approximately 24 hours later. Putnam County Coroner Hollis Harrison identified the victim as Frederick Scott Jr., 32, of Chase Circle, Eatonton.
Antoine T. Brown

Antoine T. Brown

Door-to-door solicitors arrested at sheriff’s house

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Two door-to-door salesmen picked the wrong house Saturday and ended up in the Putnam County jail. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills was outside working in his yard Saturday afternoon when two men in a pickup truck pulled into his driveway.
Russell and Shirley Dermond/CBS News Graphic

Russell and Shirley Dermond/CBS News Graphic

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DNA being analyzed in Dermond case

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, June 1, 2023
On May 4, The Eatonton Messenger reported that Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills had taken two trips to Houston, Texas, to deliver evidence to a private lab there.
Putnam County Sheriff's Photo/File Photo

Putnam County Sheriff's Photo/File Photo

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Sheriff Sills rants on recidivism

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, April 20, 2023
After the arrest of six local men last week on drug-selling-related charges, local authorities expressed fervent frustration at the number of previous times the suspects had been convicted of similar charges.
BREAKING NEWS | THE EATONTON MESSENGER

BREAKING NEWS | THE EATONTON MESSENGER

Suspect sought for attempted carjacking

Lynn Hobbs
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
A manhunt that lasted several hours in southeast Putnam County on Wednesday, Feb. 22, yielded the arrest of one man, but he was not the subject of the manhunt, authorities say.
Eatonton Messenger/File Photo

Eatonton Messenger/File Photo

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Teacher injures self when gun accidentally fires

Lynn Hobbs Lynn@msgrnews.com
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
A Putnam County High School teacher accidentally shot himself on school property but is recovering. No one else was on the property at the time, authorities say. The teacher was delivering a vehicle to the school on Sunday, Jan.
Sheriff Howard Sills/File Photo

Sheriff Howard Sills/File Photo

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Sills invited back into Georgia Sheriffs’ Association

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills is back in the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association. Almost five years since he tendered his resignation to the association, the members of the GSA Board of Directors sent Putnam’s longest-recorded serving sheriff a letter inviting him back into their membership.
Romario Garcia Mauricio/GoFundMe

Romario Garcia Mauricio/GoFundMe

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Greensboro man killed in Putnam County crash

Lynn Hobbs
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
A Greensboro man lost his life on Dec. 12, in a single-vehicle crash in Putnam County. Romario Garcia Mauricio, 25, of Greensboro, was traveling alone in his 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, heading southbound on Pea Ridge Road near the Sparta Highway at about 2:20 p.m.
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