A Spalding County commissioner who’s been in jail since February following a SWAT standoff at his senior living community was indicted Thursday on eight felony charges, officials said.
Donald Hawbaker, 65, was arrested Feb. 4 after deputies went to the Sun City Peachtree community in Griffin to serve an arrest warrant for simple assault and disorderly conduct, the sheriff’s office said.
The District 5 commissioner was accused of pointing a gun at his wife and telling her to leave the house, Sheriff Darrell Dix said previously.
Dix told Channel 2 Action News he called Hawbaker and asked him to surrender, adding the commissioner seemed intoxicated at the time.
“He refused to meet me,” Dix said. “He cussed me out on the phone, so we came here.”
When deputies arrived at the 55-and-older community about 2:30 p.m., they were met with gunfire from the home, authorities said. No one was hit.
Concerned that Hawbaker may have been struck, Dix called in the SWAT team and ordered his department’s armored personnel carrier to drive through the front of the house.
"It was the fastest way to get in,” he told the news station.
Hawbaker was eventually taken into custody, ending the standoff that lasted more than two hours. A grand jury indicted him Thursday on one count of aggravated assault under the Family Violence Act, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and five counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
Dix said Hawbaker’s indictment was delayed for months due to a judicial order prohibiting courts from convening grand juries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I served Commissioner Hawbaker with a copy of the indictment and additional counts this morning since he is still in custody in my jail,” the sheriff said in a statement.
The February SWAT standoff marked the commissioner’s second arrest in about four months. In October 2019, Hawbaker was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Peachtree City while driving to a government meeting, AJC.com previously reported.
Officers came across his car on the side of Ga. 74 with a blown-out tire about 4:15 p.m. Oct. 8, Peachtree City police spokesman Sgt. Chris Hyatt said. The Griffin attorney identified himself as a Spalding County commissioner and said he had a meeting scheduled that evening, Hyatt said.
Hawbaker was elected to his commission seat in November 2014, according to his biography on the Spalding County government page. His second term is set to expire at the end of 2022. As an attorney, the Baylor University graduate specializes in estate planning, elder law, trusts and wills.
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