A Clarkesville man remains jailed at the Habersham County Detention Center in Clarkesville following what started as a road rage incident outside Cornelia Wednesday afternoon (January 14).
Jesse Lafayette Parker, 84, turned himself in at the detention center Wednesday afternoon and is charged by the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office with three counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The Georgia State Patrol filed misdemeanor charges of hit and run/failure to stop and render aid and passing in a no-passing zone.
At 1:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, a Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Uniform Patrol deputy was dispatched to a hit and run at Cornelia Christian Church on 441 Bypass in Cornelia.
Dispatchers told the responding deputy that a Cornelia police officer was out with the victim of a hit and run/road rage incident that started in the county.
The victim reported he was traveling east on Level Grove Road in the area of the Ga. 365 southbound ramp when a silver Mercury Grand Marquis driven by an older white male stopped in the road in front of him at the southbound ramp to allow a vehicle to make a left turn onto the ramp.
The victim told the deputy he honked his horn at the Grand Marquis, which then made a turn onto the south ramp before pulling back into traffic on Level Grove Road, following the victim and honking the horn.
The victim reported the driver of the Grand Marquis had what appeared to be a hatchet and was hanging it out the driver’s window, so the victim pulled off the right side of the road at the northbound ramp to allow the vehicle to pass. As the victim’s vehicle rolled slowly, the Grand Marquis swerved into his lane, striking the victim’s vehicle before proceeding.
The victim followed the Grand Marquis east toward Cornelia on Level Grove Road until it turned into the Quality Foods Shopping Center parking lot.
The victim turned right from Level Grove Road onto 441 Bypass toward Baldwin, where the driver saw the Grand Marquis turn left into the parking lot to the left of Cornelia Christian Church.
As the victim pulled in roughly 100 feet behind the Grand Marquis, the male driver of it was seen standing with his door open aiming what appeared to be a rifle/shotgun at the victim.
The victim provided responding officers with photos showing the driver, later identified as Parker, pointing a black, pump-action style shotgun at the victim. There were also photographs of Parker holding the shotgun.
When Parker left the scene, the victim called 9-1-1.
After a lookout was issued by Cornelia police for the Grand Marquis and deputies were searching for it, Parker called and told a Cornelia police officer he was on his way home to put away his groceries then would turn himself in.
About 3 p.m. Wednesday, Parker arrived at the Habersham County Detention Center lobby in Clarkesville, where deputies arrested him without incident.
The victim and Parker did not know each other.
Bond for all charges is set at $15,000.
