A Gainesville man, and his passenger, were both arrested after several hit-and-run incidents at West Hall High School Monday. Neither of the men are students at the school.
The driver, Joshua Morgan Hawkins, 18, hit several cars while driving through the parking lot. According to Derreck Booth with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, at around 3:30 p.m. the school resource officer first noticed the activity. “It was determined that Hawkins backed into one vehicle in the parking lot. He continued driving through the parking lot and struck two other cars with his car. That’s when the resource officer was able to get him stopped.”
The officer called for backup and the traffic unit arrived. They found Hawkins was driving under the influence of drugs. “After they arrested him, they took an inventory of his car. That’s when they found a handgun in the vehicle,” says Booth. They also found a THC vape cartridge and a nicotine vape pen.
Hawkins is charged with three counts of striking an unattended vehicle (hit-and-run), DUI drugs, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, having a weapon in the school safety zone and possession of tobacco by a minor.
The passenger of the car, Julian Michael Fillingham, 18 of New York, was also arrested. According to Booth, he repeatedly interfered with the investigation. He is being charged with obstruction of an officer.
Booth says that it appears the men were on the campus with no intent of doing harm, perhaps even running an errand. That information, along with what drugs Hawkins had in his system at the time, will all be the result of the ongoing investigation.
As of Tuesday afternoon, both men were still in the Hall County jail.
