AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – There was a rare rescue in south Augusta after a 6-foot sturgeon got stuck in Spirit Creek.

Sturgeons are an ancient group of fish that date back to the age of the dinosaurs and they can live to be 150 years old.

On Friday, the Department of Natural Resources set the sturgeon free.

“I had to drop everything I was doing. I called some contacts from UGA with their sturgeon lab for them to come up and assist us,” said Aaron Gray, a fisheries biologist for DNR.

The Atlantic Sturgeon finished laying her eggs in the Savannah River, but while she was leaving, she got stuck in Spirit Creek.

“The fish came in when we had some heavy rain in the area, and once the way was receded the sturgeon was stuck over the bridge,” said Gray.

Once Gray got the tip about the sturgeon being stuck, he jumped into gear. Saving her was a seven-man job.

“It took for nets to corral and finally capture the sturgeon. Once we had it in hand, the University of Georgia group got measurement and data from the fish,” said Gray.

It was a delicate process to get her out of the creek and took about an hour. It took another 30 minutes to get her back to the Savannah River.

“Had to temper the water in the tank for about half an hour to make the river condition,” he said.

Matching the river conditions kept the sturgeon from going into shock and to be safe in her home again.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says a suspect was arrested on Friday in connection to a stalking case in Augusta.

On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said they were searching for a man who is accused of stalking, harassing and threatening a woman and her family.

Robert “Reht” Hutchinson III was wanted for harassing phone calls, stalking, and terroristic threats and acts for incidents that occurred on May 16 and May 21.

The victim stated that her ex-husband has repeatedly called and sent text messages to her stating he was coming to the house with a chainsaw, authorities say.

Hutchinson has threatened to take the children away and that she should be scared, according to authorities.

Hutchinson is not allowed to be the kids due to a protection order, the victim told officials.

Authorities say Hutchinson might be under the influence.

The victim stated his behavior might be due to being under the influence, but she was scared and didn’t know what to do, authorities say.

When deputies spoke with him on the phone, Hutchinson did not believe they were law enforcement, deputies say.

The sheriff’s office says Hutchinson was taken into custody in Columbia County through a joint effort of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshal’s.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The District Attorney’s Major Crimes Division announces the guilty verdict in the November 2020 Eve Street barber shop double murder.

Kazarie Middleton, 21, of Augusta, and Cortez Berry, 27, of Augusta, have been found guilty on all counts, to include malice and felony murder, according to the district attorney’s office.

The third co-defendant, Marquise Harris, is set to plead guilty, officials say.

The men will be sentenced Friday, May 31 at 9:30 a.m. by Judge Amanda Heath. The minimum sentence on Murder is Life Imprisonment.

Officials also say the case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Justin Mullis of the Special Victims Unit. He was assisted at trial by co-counsel ADA Dre’Kevius Huff.

Support for the victims’ families was provided by Victim Advocate Shelly Blaisdell. The week-long trial ended moments ago with the jury’s decisive verdict.

Meguel Freeman, of Augusta, was 48 years of age. Wyman Scott, of Augusta, was 34 years of age.

They deserved better than the senseless violence that claimed their lives. Their families deserved better. Our community deserves better. Your District Attorney’s Office will continue fighting to make this a safer place to call home,” District Attorney Jared Williams says.

A third suspect has been arrested in the Nov. 23 shooting deaths of two men at a barbershop in a crime that rocked Augusta’s Harrisburg neighborhood.

Cortez Bernard Berry was arrested Wednesday, according to Richmond County jail records.

He faces two counts of murder, a count of possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, criminal attempt and parole violation.

Two suspects had already been arrested in connection with the slayings at Johnson’s Beauty & Barber Salon, 706 Eve St.

The slayings left the community in mourning and served as wake-up call to a deadly crime wave across the CSRA.

The big break in the Augusta case came in mid-December, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office. That’s when investigators learned the identities of three suspects.

Investigators arrested and charged Marquise Harris and Kazarie Middleton, both 18-year-old Augusta residents, with two counts of murder, criminal attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to the sheriff’s agency.

A third suspect — Berry — remained at-large until Wednesday.

The bodies of the victims, Meguel D. Freeman, 48, and Wyman K. Scott, 34, both of Augusta, were found at the barbershop by a customer, who contacted authorities at 2:18 p.m. Nov. 23.

Freeman was a barber there, and Wyman was a customer.

Neighbors took the shooting hard.

“It could have been any one of us around here. It’s getting dangerous out here, especially in this neighborhood,” next-door neighbor Claude told News 12 in the days after the slaying.

It was one of the most shocking in a string of deadly crimes across the region that claimed at least seven lives and lasted into early December.

Those crimes included the late November slaying of a North Augusta man at the Seventh Lounge in Aiken and the fatal shooting of a 77-year-old in Barnwell County.

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