An after-hours joy ride on heavy machinery parked on county property resulted in the arrest of a
Demorest man Friday night.
Danny Ross Robinson, 66, faces charges of DUI and theft by taking a motor vehicle after being arrested by Habersham County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Old Athens Highway shortly before 8:00.
The Komatsu PC 290 LC had been parked on Happy Tails Way, the gravel road leading to the new county animal shelter.
The 30-ton excavator damaged one mailbox but did not collide with any structures or vehicles
during its off-campus trek. Callers to E-911 reported it was traveling along Old Athens
Highway just after 7:45 p.m.
When emergency personnel arrived, it was stopped in a private driveway about a
half mile from the job site. The boom was inches below utility wires running along Old Athens
Highway.
The machine was not damaged and there were no injuries.
The hydraulic machine operates on tracks and is about 11 feet wide and tops out about 3.4 miles
per hour, according to manufacturer specifications.
At mid-morning Monday, Robinson remained in the Habersham County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $5,700.