Woman arrested for reporting false crime

May 17—A 37-year-old Milledgeville woman is jailed in the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center after reportedly making a false 911 crime call.

The call, which local authorities said was unfounded, later led to a deputy sheriff being involved in a fatal crash on Kings Road Wednesday shortly before midnight.

Authorities identified the woman who reportedly made the 911 call as Quchina Harden of the 1200 block of Pinewood Drive, according to jail records.

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said the woman reportedly told a 911 dispatcher that her husband had been killed.

But when Deputies Chance Rogers, Benjamin Johnson and Lt. Jerome Roberts got to the residence where the 911 call originated, Harden denied she made the call. The woman reportedly said no one had been killed.

Rogers said in an incident report that when he and the two deputies arrived at the residence on the 700 block of Stembridge Road, a man identified as James McLaughlin came out of the garage door. Rogers said he asked if everyone at the residence was OK and the man assured him that they were.

The deputy said he explained to McLaughlin that a woman had called 911 saying that someone had killed her husband and provided the address.

"I asked James if I could come inside and check the residence to ensure everyone was safe and uninjured," Rogers said in his report, a copy of which was obtained by The Union-Recorder. "James agreed and let us inside. James stated no one was inside the residence but him."

For the safety of deputies, McLaughlin was patted down for weapons. None were found on him and it was confirmed that there was no one else inside the residence.

McLaughlin informed deputies that Harden had been there but she had awakened from a nap and walked away from the residence in an unknown direction before deputies arrived.

It was later learned that Harden had family members living nearby on Stembridge Road.

Rogers said he went to the Stembridge Road residence where he talked with a woman who said Harden had just arrived.

The deputy said he talked with Harden before he left the residence due to the wreck call that went out on Kings Road.

The crash critically injured 67-year-old Louis Mazolla, who was thrown out of his Ford Explorer after Deputy Sgt. Reid White collided with it. White was attempting to pass the Explorer while en route to the emergency 911 call on Stembridge Road. Mazolla was attempting to make a left turn into his driveway as White was trying to go around him.

Mazolla was pronounced dead early Thursday by a physician in the emergency department of Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin hospital in Milledgeville, according to Baldwin County Chief Deputy Coroner Ken Garland.

The deputy sustained an injured wrist.

Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Maj. Scott Deason said he and Sheriff Massee went to the local hospital and they did the death notification with Mazolla's wife.

"That's something that's always difficult, and our prayers are with them and I hope the public will continue to remember Reid White and our agency in their thoughts and prayers, too," Deason said.

The fatal collision remains under investigation by troopers with the Georgia State Patrol Post in Milledgeville and the GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT).

Shortly after midnight Thursday, Rogers said he returned to the Stembridge Road residence and talked more with Harden.

"I asked Quchina if she had called 911 and she acknowledged ...,'" Rogers said in his report.

The deputy said when he asked her what she had told the 911 dispatcher that she reportedly told him she did not know what he was talking about.

Rogers said he asked again and she told him that she had. She accused McLaughlin of hitting her earlier, according to the incident report.

"I asked Quchina again what she said on the 911 recorded line and then she asked me what was going on," the deputy said. "Quchina then stated she just wanted a report for a hit, and would not answer my question about what she told the 911 dispatcher."

Harden claimed she did not remember anything after she was reportedly hit.

The woman later allowed Rogers to look at her cellphone.

"I saw in her recent calls, one was a missed call from the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center," Rogers said. "The missed call was due to her calling 911 and dispatch was trying to call her back, but she did not answer."

Hardin was arrested and charged with one count of false report of a crime and one count of unlawful conduct during 911 calls or contacts with 911 in making a false report.

Both charges are misdemeanors.