The 16-year-old student pilot
accused of "buzzing" the Fayette County Kiwanis Fair last week
entered the equivalent of a guilty plea in juvenile court yesterday to
several related misdemeanor charges.
The felony charges of making
terroristic acts previously filed against the youth were dismissed, said
Fayette County District Attorney Bill McBroom. The teen entered an "admission,"
the equivalent of a guilty plea, to two counts of reckless conduct and
two counts of unlawful flight over Georgia land, all misdemeanors, McBroom
said.
Juvenile Court Judge A. Ronald
Cook accepted the guilty plea and placed the youth on a strict curfew
in addition to confiscating his student pilot's license and his Georgia
driver's license, McBroom added.
The teen's name is being withheld
in accordance with Georgia law since he is a juvenile and not charged
with a serious criminal offense.
Since the youth lives in Clayton
County, the case will be transferred to a juvenile court judge there for
the sentencing phase of the case, McBroom said.
The teen, who lives at a McDonough
address in Clayton County, had been incarcerated at the Youth Detention
Center in Griffin prior to Thursday's hearing. Meanwhile, the instructor
flying along with him, Andrew Waits, 22, of Fayetteville, was free on
$8,000 bond.
Waits is charged with two counts
of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, two counts of reckless
conduct and two counts of unlawful flight over Georgia land.
Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette
County Sheriff's Department, who witnessed both fly-bys, said the second
one sent many fairgoers heading for the exits. The plane narrowly missed
two attractions during the stunt: the ferris wheel and the Kamikaze ride,
Jordan said.
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