Road rage episode involving judge prompts GBI involvement

The GBI has been asked to look into the handling of a Dublin road rage incident involving a Superior Court judge.

Chief Tim Chatman said his responding officers did not notify supervisors when Judge Jud Green became irate after a driver allegedly ran him and his wife off Interstate 16 Sunday night.

“We are turning it over to the GBI to let them look at it to see if a crime has occurred,” Chatman said Wednesday afternoon.

Chatman said he learned of the episode only Tuesday.

“We’re trying to get a full understanding of it as far as those officers not sending it up the chain,” he said. “It was a miscellaneous report, and it should have been a full report.”

The “dispute” report obtained by The Telegraph refers to victims Stephanie Ann Million, 40, of Milledgeville and Jordon Million, 20, of Dexter, but it only refers to the judge by his last name.

About 5:45 p.m. Sunday, Stephanie Million told Dublin police Sgt. Stan Garrett that she passed a gray, Toyota 4-Runner on Interstate 16 that followed her to a BP gas station on U.S. 441 South.

“Mr. Green,” who was identified as the SUV driver, got out and “was irate and was yelling and threatening” the Millions, according to her account in the report.

Attempts to reach Million on Wednesday were not successful.

Green, 48, told The Telegraph that his wife was at the wheel of their SUV, going about 80 miles per hour with the traffic when a car going about 100 mph came up on the right side and then crossed into their left lane.

The car nearly hit them, he said, and the Greens went off the left side of the road into the grassy area of the median.

“It was a situation with a near death experience,” Green said. “If there was a bridge there, we would have been killed in a flash.”

He credited his wife’s quick reflexes with getting them back on the highway safely.

They exited at U.S. 441, where they spotted the car turning into a gas station, he said.

They pulled into the parking lot and got out.

“I did yell at the driver about nearly killing us,” Green said. “I did certainly cuss at them for almost killing us.”

Although he doesn’t remember exactly what he said, he thinks he said something like: “You need to get an f-ing license.”

Green said he flagged down a Laurens County sheriff’s deputy and reported what had happened, but he did not want to press charges against the alleged reckless driver.

“I certainly did use profanity at them. She was upset I was leaning in the car fussing,” he said.

The deputy called for Dublin police, since it was in the city limits.

Green said his emotions were running high, but he thought they both were at fault in the situation.

“Certainly I shouldn’t have fussed at them for almost killing me,” he said.

Green said a relative of the driver called him earlier this week to discuss what happened.

The judge said he gave the man his personal number so the driver could call him and they could put the episode behind them.

He had not heard from her as of midday Wednesday.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Road rage episode involving judge prompts GBI involvement."