desperate shuttler in Hiawassee

[Ron Haven]

I have had hikers in the past week telling me there is a desperate Stool Pigeon in a red pick up truck with wood slab side boards harassing hikers especially girls at Dicks Creek Gap.

He sits there all day and everyone who passes he is trying to make a shuttle deal and if you refuse he starts cussing and saying lots of un appropriate gestures.

I have saw him in the past and have ignored him though he has made his statements about what an S.O.B I am for moving in on his business with my free shuttles on the magic bus but lately he is getting more desperate.

I got reports today that he is now telling that I have hired him to do my shuttling and if you get in with him he charges you $20 for riding into Hiawassee.All of you know I shuttle my guest in and out free. This isn't the truth so beware.

One of the girls he was harassing this week was waiting to go to the Blue Berry Patch and by luck my shuttle driver did pull up just in time to give her a ride.He said she was terrified and said she was going to report him to the authorities.

Another girl told me in Franklin yesterday of another incident and she had told a deputy sheriff and he replied "that wasn't something they deal with". So friends until something is done just beware.

[Tinker]

Thanks for the heads-up, Ron. Safety for a hiker is never guaranteed, and generally becomes even moreso the closer he/she gets to a road.
There are some strange and even dangerous folks out there.

[flow]

Do you believe this?
From the Sheriff's webpage:



"The Macon County Sheriff's Office takes a proactive approach to law enforcement--focusing on working WITH the public and preventing crime before it happens. We firmly believe that, working together, we CAN make a positive difference in our community.

Thank you for visiting our web site. I invite you to come by and visit your Sheriff's Office and meet for yourself the dedicated men and women who are striving to better serve you."


I think if I was a taxpayer down there, I would be stopping by their office this week to express my concern.

[Ron Haven]

Do you believe this?
From the Sheriff's webpage:



"The Macon County Sheriff's Office takes a proactive approach to law enforcement--focusing on working WITH the public and preventing crime before it happens. We firmly believe that, working together, we CAN make a positive difference in our community.

Thank you for visiting our web site. I invite you to come by and visit your Sheriff's Office and meet for yourself the dedicated men and women who are striving to better serve you."


I think if I was a taxpayer down there, I would be stopping by their office this week to express my concern.

Flow the girl said she told a deputy sheriff in Hiawassee.I know if it had been in Macon County,NC that they would have been someone there immediately.

[Panzer1]

we talked about this on another thread but if he does not have commercial auto insurance to transport paying passengers he can easily be shut down.

Panzer

[Tinker]

A round from your tank should do it nicely, too .

[ShakeyLeggs]

Might want to try next time he goes off on someone have them swear out a complaint against him. Then the cops will have to do something. Until he is dealt with be careful out there.

[Panzer1]

A round from your tank should do it nicely, too .

yes, thank you
also the machine gun on the turret will do a good job on soft skinned vehicles.

Panzer

[Ox97GaMe]

I think I met this guy a couple years ago. Red truck similar to what you describe. We were feeding hikers at Dicks Creek for lunch. He got really ticked off at us because nobody wanted to ride into town on his 'shuttle'. They preferred to hang out with us and eat. He told me that he was going to call the cops and have us arrested. I told him that folks usually allowed to have a picnic in an area where picnic tables were set up. We were having a picnic and were not excluding anybody that might be hungry to join us. Also told him I would be more than happy to tell that to any law enforcement officers he wanted to bring up to the parking lot. I even offered to dial 911 for him if he wanted to insist on having the cops there. He left and that was the end of it.

Sorry to hear that he is out harrassing hikers again this year.

[generoll]

Dicks Creek Gap is on the county line between Towns and Rabun counties, both in Georgia. When I would show up to pick up a hiker by appointment, he'd ask what I was doing and then take off up the trail to try and get to the hiker first. I still shuttle when someone calls, but I don't lurk at trail crossings.

[Tagless]

I met this character at Dick's Creek last week while hiking from Springer to Franklin. He offered a ride into town and didn't mention that it would cost. I assume the plan was to get us loaded and then mention that "little detail". We (there were three of us) asked about a charge and he said $7.00 per person - $21 total. We refused and he got very irritated, saying "no one ever picks up hikers here". Being familiar with the area, I knew better. We offered $10.00 total and he accepted that.

Several weeks before, I left trail magic at Dick's Creek. While doing so, I asked several hikers if I could take their garbage and they said they wished I had been there 10 minutes before. Someone (the same guy I'm sure) took their garbage for $1.00 each.

I'm not sure he is breaking any laws, but not "posting" or being clear about rates on the front end for a service he wishes to provide is both misleading and wrong.

[Lyle]

Anyone contact the ATC? They should probably be made aware.

[Spokes]

.......... just a matter of time before he goes off and curses at the wrong hiker.

[BAG "o" TRICKS]

Flow the girl said she told a deputy sheriff in Hiawassee.I know if it had been in Macon County,NC that they would have been someone there immediately.

Pass the "beware" info along to hikers South & North of his area of operation. Someone get his tag number and report 'send' these incidents on here to the local sheriff and as suggested also ATC Hdq's. Hell Ron you pretty much own the county by now.., don't you the law 'should' listen to you.

[Tagless]

Good idea Bag "o" Tricks. One way to do this would be to post warning signs 1-2 shelters to the north and to the south. Even printing and leaving copies of this thread would suffice.

Anyone reading this planning to pass through that area soon?

[double d]

Thanks Ron for this update. We all should remember one thing, we are on our hike and this guy is interfering with that with his attitude and attempts at bullying hikers. That should not be tolerated-the AT is under federal protection as well and so federal law enforcement that works with the AT should be informed of this guy as well.

[Trillium]

yesterday I was catching up on some trail journals and someone posted something about this.

ok, here it is, from Ups journal on 4/5:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=304021

We woke up early this morning ready to head to town. We hiked to Dicks Creek Gap and caught a ride from a swindler into Hiawassee who charged us way too much, but we were happy to get into town.

[BAG "o" TRICKS]

Good idea Bag "o" Tricks. One way to do this would be to post warning signs 1-2 shelters to the north and to the south. Even printing and leaving copies of this thread would suffice.

Anyone reading this planning to pass through that area soon?

Don't know if that's the right way to go about it, but putting info such as this in the shelter/trail registers and on web sites like this wouldn't hurt and hopfully would get the word out and help hikers avoid characters like this.

[white_russian]

I'm not sure he is breaking any laws, but not "posting" or being clear about rates on the front end for a service he wishes to provide is both misleading and wrong.

Claiming to be part of Ron's business sure sounds illegal to me.

[Appalachian Tater]

Shuttling for hire without a permit or license or whatever the law requires is illegal, as well. Most likely he doesn't have commercial insurance, either, so if there is an accident with a proper investigation, any injured customers will be on their own for the medical bills.

Likely his business is almost all cash and he isn't reporting the income, either. Quite common but still illegal.