Lowell Register not clear owner of The Creek tower property, updated tax records show

In defense of his arrest on a burglary charge at The Creek 100.9 radio transmitter, Lowell Register maintained Monday that the building belongs to him and is on his personal property.

The Telegraph searched for Register’s name on the Peach County tax assessor’s website on Monday, and Lowell L. Register came up as the owner of the Aultman Road property in question.

The post also showed Register was two years behind on property taxes, which totaled nearly $3,200.

“It’s my property. It’s my building and land and up until (Sunday) I’ve had the opportunity to come and go,” Register told The Telegraph Monday.

According to online records updated after 3 p.m. Tuesday, the nearly seven-acre property off Ga. 96 near Interstate 75 was transferred on Nov. 10, 2016, to Griffith Downtown Investments LLC, which is affiliated with The Creek co-owner Wes Griffith.

Joshua Hale, an attorney representing the radio station’s interests, said the ownership of the property is under legal review.

Register might “own the dirt” but not the improvements to the property, Hale said.

Friday, a switch at the transmitter was turned off and Brad Evans, a co-owner of The Creek, suspected that Register was behind the outage, but Evans did not press charges.

The switch was flipped back on, and The Creek was back on the air after being off for about five hours.

Saturday, the station went off the air again about 10 a.m. when a circuit board was removed.

Evans called the sheriff’s offices in Peach and Bibb counties, thinking Register might have the board at his Macon home.

Engineers temporarily patched together a repair, and the station was back on the air about 7 p.m. Saturday.

Register admitted removing the motherboard from the transmitter Saturday.

“I just pulled it out and my son-in-law hid it,” Register said. “I’m not stealing.”

Evans recovered it on the property Sunday.

Register maintains his radio properties were improperly placed in receivership and that he never defaulted on any loans, although documents submitted in court showed he defaulted on $7.5 million worth of loans, property taxes and payroll taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

Sunday, Register was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing.

He said he continually tried to get the deputy to listen to his claim to the property.

“I was treated, really at the time, like a hardened criminal,” Register told The Telegraph. “I’m an 80-year-old guy, been around 65 years in broadcasting and never had anybody as insulting to me as this.”

Last year, a judge scolded Register and ordered him not to interfere with the receivership and ordered him to hand over checks he had intercepted.

Register contends that the receivership is invalid and a federal bankruptcy judge’s reinstalling him and his wife, Janice, to Register Communications’ board last year gives him rights to retake control of the businesses. Register Communications has a pending Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Judge Ed Ennis confirmed the sale last fall.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Lowell Register not clear owner of The Creek tower property, updated tax records show."