Buff Bagwell is on the road to recovery. After flipping his car on April 23 in Georgia and being rushed to the hospital where he was listed as in intensive care, the 42-year-old professional wrestler — whose real name is Marcus Bagwell — is now back at home.
"Buff is doing much better!" Buff's camp tells Hollywood.com. "He is at home and ready to work again."
Bagwell rose to fame during his tenure in World Championship Wrestling from 1991 to 2001. During that time, he became a five-time World Tag Team champion. He also broke his neck during a match in 1998, but made a full recovery.
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The three siblings accused of committing a cross-country crime spree that started in Florida and ended with a shootout in Colorado were hauled in to court Tuesday in Georgia to face charges of robbing a bank for cash that helped fuel their escape.
The three, 21-year-old Ryan Edward Dougherty, 26-year-old Dylan Stanley-Dougherty and 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, pleaded not guilty to bursting into a Valdosta, Ga., bank and stealing $5,168 to fund their mayhem.
They could face decades more in prison for the robbery, on top of the lengthy sentences they received in Colorado for leading police on a dangerous chase there that climaxed with their capture after an eight-day national manhunt. This won't be their last court appearance, either. They face additional charges in Florida of shooting at an officer who tried to pull them over.
"The three Dougherty siblings could have killed anybody at any time," said Sheriff Chris Nocco of Pasco County, Fla. "We're just blessed that no civilians were hurt and no law enforcement officers were hurt."
The trio spoke only briefly at the hearing, telling the judge they understood the charges and entering their not guilty pleas. Their attorneys declined to comment after the hearing.
The search for the gang began in August when an officer northeast of Tampa, Fla., tried to pull over their car for speeding. That led to a five-mile police chase, with speeds around 100 mph. Two of the passengers squeezed off at least 20 gunshots at the officer pursuing them. He wasn't hurt, but a bullet burst one of his tires, forcing him to give up the chase.
A few hours later, authorities say the three made their way to the Certus Bank in Valdosta, Ga., about 210 miles north. One of them brandished an AK-47-style rifle while another was photographed by a security camera waving a pistol, the FBI said. The robbers fired shots into the ceiling and then fled with the stolen cash, burning through $1,000 as they made their way west.
The string of violent crimes sparked nationwide attention. Their images were plastered on electronic billboards throughout the Southeast. Their mother, Barbara Bell, encouraged her children to turn themselves in before someone got hurt, while authorities warned the public to steer clear.
"It sure seems like they have a death wish," Valdosta Police Cmdr. Brian Childress said at the time. "We're just hoping they surrender and they do it peacefully so no one gets hurt."
The chase ended Aug. 10 after two retired officers spotted the three while on a leisure trip in the San Isabel National Forest. Within an hour, the fugitives were leading authorities on a 20-mile police chase on Interstate 25 that ended in Walsenburg, about 150 miles south of Denver. Shots were fired at the officers before troopers deployed spike strips to puncture the tires of the trio's Subaru, and the vehicle rolled before crashing into a guardrail.
Even then, the chase wasn't over. Lee Dougherty bolted from the crash on foot, only to be shot in the leg by an officer after she pointed a pistol at him, authorities said. She later told police, "I deserved to get shot," according to court records.
The arrest launched a string of court cases that stretched to all three states as well. The three were given hefty prison sentences last month for the mayhem in Colorado. Ryan Dougherty was given 18 years, Lee Grace Dougherty received 24 years and Dylan Stanley-Dougherty got 32 years.
"I'd like to say it was a lapse in judgment, but 10 days is not a lapse in judgment," Lee Grace Dougherty said at the hearing. "It was bad, poor judgment."
Dylan Stanley-Dougherty is accused of firing the assault rifle at pursuing officers before the three were captured in Colorado, and authorities say he was also the one who fired at a police officer in Florida and during the Georgia bank robbery. During the sentencing hearing, he apologized for his actions and told the judge he didn't intend to hurt anyone.
"It is true that I acted out of desperation, and I am sorry for choices that I made," he said.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/15/fugitive-siblings-return-to-ga-for-hearing/#ixzz1vAVwh8EK
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The Ga. 400 southbound shoulder lane opened to rush hour traffic at 6:30 Monday morning in an effort to relieve congestion on one of Georgia's busiest roads.
The new setup didn't appear to be helping much, as bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported between Windward Parkway and Northridge Road. The first report of a wreck in the emergency lane came in around 8:30 as the WSB Radio Traffic Center reported that a car hit the guardrail south of Northridge.
Channel 2 Action News reported that the car was driven by a former NFL player, Larry Roberts, who played defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers from 1986 to 1993. Roberts was arrested and charged with driving on a suspended license, Channel 2 said.
The emergency lane is open from Holcomb Bridge Road to the North Springs MARTA station from 6:30 to 9:30 Monday through Friday.
State Department of Transportation leaders at a news conference last week urged commuters not to expect miracles. Apparently that message got through. In an online poll conducted by AM 750 and 95.5FM Newstalk WSB, 86 percent of voters said they didn't expect the extra lane to improve traffic.
“It will probably allow us to get a little more efficiency out of our system,” said DOT Commissioner Keith Golden, but the congestion relief won’t compare to a brand-new full-length clear travel lane.
The difference is that this new lane doesn’t extend all the way through, down to and beyond the I-285 interchange. For two stretches of a couple of miles each, drivers approaching an exit will have more space: approaching Northridge Road, where the lane cuts off, then starts up again; and approaching the North Springs MARTA station, where the lane cuts off again.
All the traffic that’s not exiting at Northridge Road or the MARTA station will have to move back into the same four-lane bottleneck to reach I-285.
But it’s not expected to make things worse, Golden said.
“We’re not introducing new entrance points, and it’s the same volume of traffic,” he said. Instead, all that traffic will now have 2 1/2 miles to do its weaving before those two highway exits, dissipating the lane changes that help cause crashes and congestion. Really, one could look at the project as providing extremely long new exit lanes for Northridge Road and the MARTA station.
The DOT no longer has the money to keep widening highways that much, so it has to turn to innovative solutions. This one was chosen by Gov. Nathan Deal, and announced in his State of the State address.
After this stretch gets rolling, an additional stretch north of Holcomb Bridge Road is slated to open later this summer.
If it works, the DOT expects to implement it on the northbound shoulder as well. The agency will likely evaluate the success after fall school traffic starts up.
“It’s a low-cost solution,” Golden said. “And if it’s a failure, we’ll back up, pull the signs up and remove it."
This phase of the project has cost about $100,000, DOT spokesman David Spear said.
While regular traffic will be restricted to three hours a day, transit buses still will be able to use the shoulder lanes all day.
But the major benefit to the buses -- and to emergency vehicles -- of a basically clear lane during rush hour will be gone. Emergency services officers are concerned.
In response, the DOT has constructed seven new pull-off areas for stalled cars, police ticketing, or accident management sites.
In addition to the pull-off areas, the DOT is painting new lines on the road and installing new road signs, which should be unveiled midday Friday. On Monday, and every weekday after that, starting at 5 a.m. HERO trucks plan to push stalled cars and debris out of the lane, clearing it in time for morning traffic.
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Musician Joshua Webb was killed in a car accident in Atlanta on Wednesday, aged 27.
The star, who appeared on R&B singer Ledisi's Grammy-nominated album "Pieces of Me," was driving with his cousin to pick up his new car when their vehicle collided with a tractor trailer.
Find: Ledisi performinig 'Pieces of Me'
Webb was pronounced dead at the scene while his relative was hospitalised with a broken leg and spinal cord injury, according to a publication in the star's native Missouri, St. Louis Today.
Ledisi has taken to her Twitter.com account to pay tribute to her former collaborator, writing, "When u hear the piano part on (my track) Bravo that's Josh Webb R.I.P My love & prayers 2 The Webb Family... So grateful for so much.. I met and I am around so many of God's angels."
The tragic artist featured on Ledisi's songs Bravo and Shine and he was also the brother of John Webb, Jr., aka Jon Jon Traxx, who's produced a slew of hit tunes for Beyonce, Usher and Mary J. Blige.
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TLANTA — A driver was charged in the car accident that hospitalized eight people, including two children in the driver's vehicle.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/Jb6sZu) that the Saturday collision took place near Johns Creek, Ga. when the driver of a Honda crossed a median and hit an oncoming SUV.
Johns Creek Police Lt. Chris Byers says the driver of the Honda was charged with failing to maintain lane and two counts of failure to properly restrain a child.
Johns Creek Police Lt. Chris Byers says the driver of the Honda was charged with failing to maintain lane and two counts of failure to properly restrain a child.
The names of those involved in the accident were not released, but Byers says none of the injuries were life threatening.
He says one of the children injured in the crash was released Saturday night and the other was held for observation.
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