A Hamilton County man is facing charges after an affidavit says he raped a LaFayette minor after giving her marijuana and alcohol. The affidavit says Chattanooga Police responded to the Chattanoogan Hotel on September 19th in relation to a call about an alleged sexual assault that happened at an apartment building on Chestnut Street, The victim, a minor, told police the suspect, Dakota Christopher Ridley, picked her up from her home in LaFayette and brought her back to his apartment, according to police. The pair smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. The affidavit says at one point Ridley became aggressive, refusing to let the victim leave, and forcibly raped her. During an interview, the affidavit says Ridley admitted that he knew the victim was a minor, but claimed he didn’t rape her and that everything was consensual. Ridley is charged with aggravated statutory rape, contributing to delinquency of a minor, and sales to a minor.
Someone stole a car, and someone entered several other cars in Walker County early Monday morning.
An unknown person stole a gray 2022 Jeep Wagoneer at around 1 a.m., according to the Walker County Sheriff’s Office. It has Georgia tag CUL5956. In addition, the sheriff’s office says someone broke into or entered multiple cars in Chattanooga Valley. The Sheriff’s Department would like to remind everyone to please lock your car doors at night. If you have any information about the stolen car or the vehicle break ins. Please contact the Walker County Sheriff’s Department.
Gas prices in the State of Georgia continue to drop. State wide, gas prices for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.82 a gallon. Locally Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties feature among the lowest gas prices in the state, averaging $2.68 per gallon. According to Triple-A, gas prices are 30-cents less than this same time last year.
The Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit got a $1.7 million grant from the Judicial Council of Georgia Ad Hoc Committee on ARPA funding. The funds will be used to upgrade the audio and video systems in courtrooms to help address the current case backlog. Superior Court Judge Chris Arnt says remote hearings also save counties money.
