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Young burn victim home
Grandmother says recovery is 'true miracle'
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Caleb Hamacher, 6, seriously was burned Feb. 11 when a small backyard fire at a home in the 900 block of Primrose Lane in Hinesville flared up after gasoline was used to get it going. Now, a month and a half after the child was taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta and listed in critical condition, Caleb is back home with his family.

His grandmother, Charlotte Rodriguez, said doctors expect a complete recovery with virtually no scarring. She called his recovery process a true miracle.

Several friends and family members had gathered and were mingling around the fire when it flashed burned Caleb; his friend, Mason Tiner; and Tiner’s dad, Brian, due to an accumulation of gasoline fumes.

The three victims were flown by LifeStar to the burn center.

Rodriguez said her grandson was put in a medically induced coma during his recovery process. He sustained burns to 31 percent of his body, primarily his hands, chest, arms and face.

"They did a couple of skin grafts on his arms," Rodriguez said. "His burns are pretty much healed. He has a couple of places on his arms that are still healing but the doctors believe those will heal up without any grafts. The grafts went better than expected and he had no grafts at all for his face. His face is like a little sunburn right now and not even real bad sunburn."

Rodriguez credits the burn center’s medical professionals and the 24-hour nursing care Caleb received during his stay in intensive care.

"They were all wonderful, and they made it clear to us they were there for him and not us," she said.

Rodriguez said her family also received community support and help from their extended military family. She said the Army provided the family with a house at Fort Gordon so Caleb’s two siblings could visit their brother on weekends and the immediate family could stay close to the hospital.

"It’s wonderful," she said. "It’s just wonderful. So many friends and friends of friends … people we don’t even know have been so generous and so kind with their words and offers to help. And the First Baptist Church of Hinesville and also the neighborhood there on Fort Stewart have just been wonderful. There are some people that have just done some super things."

Rodriguez said the doctors took their time when bringing the youngster out of his coma.

"And it took about a week to bring him out of the coma and to be able to move and be able to talk," she said. "And he’s a shy little boy to begin with; he needs to get to know you before he talks to you a lot. In the hospital, after he came out of the coma, you would barely get a nod yes or no from him. Or he would say something but not a lot. He didn’t want to walk. He didn’t want to get up and he said it hurt."

However, Rodriguez said, Caleb’s release from the burn center and subsequent homecoming last Sunday seemed to prompt an immediate turnaround.

"When he got to the house he walked through every room of the house," she said. "They built a tree house out in the backyard. His dad helped him up in the tree house, and just the difference in this little boy — it’s unreal. He is walking, he is playing Wii games and other video games and he is just a wonderful little boy. He is back to his normal self, not being the real super-shy kid."

Rodriguez said her grandson will start occupational therapy this week at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart.

"He is having therapy because he was immobile for almost a month," she said. "This, too, is a blessing as they do not have a pediatric occupational therapist and usually only work with adults but have decided to work with Caleb after hearing his story."

Rodriguez said her family is blessed to have Caleb back home and grateful for the community support.

"He was bad. It was very bad, but, like I said, we truly believe it was a miracle," she said. "So many people praying — the church and the Army family have been just wonderful. I can’t say enough about them."

The family has been posting updates on Caleb’s progress on a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Praying-for-Caleb/200383166640317.

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HPD Reports
crime scene

From Hinesville Police Department reports. Editor’s note: Due to computer issues at the city, reports have been unavailable in recent weeks. They are back. Our thanks to the HPD clerks who provide them. We’re catching up as quickly as possible.

Burglary, etc: A man called 911 on Feb. 27 because he was watching his White Circle home getting burglarized. The man said his alarm system had an app that showed live video on his phone, and he was “viewing three males inside his residence,” as he talked to 911.
Police responded, caught two of them inside the house and found the third guy “hiding behind a tree,” the report said.
Detectives are investigating.

Public indecency: An officer was sent to Lowes around 4:30 p.m. March 12 in reference to a disturbance involving a man and a woman.
The woman, a Lowe’s employee, said she had just got back from her lunch break when she saw the man “looking around at items on a shelf.”
The woman said she asked him if he needed help finding anything and he held up something, then said “I have found everything I need,” the report said. “(he) then placed his arms around (the employee) to hug her and then kissed (her) neck. (She) then moved away from (him) and told him to have a nice day and attempted to walk away from (the man). (He) then began to follow (her), stating ‘I would lick you up and down’ and ‘you better hide in an office.’ (She) then spoke with manager and called 911.’”
The man told police he thought he recognized the woman “and stated to me that he had previously had a relationship with her approximately two years ago. (He) was unable to recall (her) name while on scene.”
The woman told police “she has never seen, nor spoken to (the man) before today.”
The woman was given a case number and told what to do. The man was allowed to leave.

Indecent exposure: A Berkshire Terrace man reported he went outside his house around 6:40 a.m. and “observed a man who appeared to be intoxicated, peeing on his truck and trailer.”
The complainant said the man “fully exposed his penis while he was peeing. When (complainant) asked him to stop the man told him to ‘shut the (bleep) up.’ (Complainant) advised the man he would call police. (Complainant) advised his young son was standing outside during the incident. He said the man got into a 1996 black Buick and drove away, almost hitting cars that were parked in the driveway.”
The complainant said he did not want to press charges, “he said he wanted to report the incident because the man did not stop peeing when he asked him too.”
The complainant said he’d seen the man before “come and go” from a nearby apartment. The officer met with the resident of that apartment, who said the man was a cousin and did not pee on the complainant’s trailer.

Identity theft: A man went to HPD on March 21 to report that when he went to get a driver’s history for a commercial driver’s license, he found several citations on the history that weren’t his. “(He) stated he noticed someone was issued four citations in Arkansas and one citation in Jacksonville, Florida,” and during the time the Arkansas tickets were written he was in locked up in Georgia.
“(He) advised that he was not incarcerated when the citation in Jacksonville, Florida was issued but he was not in Florida at the time. (He) was unable to leave the state of Georgia due to being on felony probation.”
It gets worse.
“(He) told me that he attempted to file his income taxes for the first time ever and he was rejected due to owing the IRS money, $20,000. (He) stated he spoke to a representative for the IRS and he was informed that taxes were filed in his name in 2014 and the return was $1,3000. (He) advised he did not file taxes in 2013 and he was still incarcerated at the time.”
The man then told the officer he thinks his brother “got the citations and filed income taxes using his information. (He) believed his brother obtained his Social Security number and other demographics when he was incarcerated.”
The man said he talked to his brother, who said he paid all the tickets. “(His) brother also told him on a different occasion that he knew his date of birth and (SSN). (He) advised he told his brother that it was not OK to use his name due to him getting his life together and attempting to drive commercial vehicles.”
The guy said he didn’t have his brother’s address. He chose to fill out an identity theft packet.

Simple battery, theft by taking: An officer was sent around 2 a.m. March 20 to the Baymont Inn regarding a disturbance. There, a woman said she was being “grabbed and pulled” by a man when she told him to leave her motel room. She said they began arguing when he accused her of stealing $100.
The man claimed he met the woman on a dating website and when they “started having sex she informed him that it would cost $100.” He told her he wasn’t going to pay her, “got dressed and realized the five $20s in his pants pocket were missing. He accused (her) of stealing his money.”
The officer asked the woman if she stole the man’s money and she replied, “No, I work hard for my money.”
Both were given a case number and told how to get a warrant.

Robbery: A woman called HPD March 15 to report she was home when her estranged husband came to her apartment “and asked her to come outside to talk to him,” a report said.
“She stated that she stepped outside thinking that he was going to be civil, though she recently filed for divorce from him. As she stepped outside, he grabbed her necklace off her neck and then ran down the stairwell and out to the parking lot.”
The woman said he stood by his vehicle a minute, then drove off as police arrived. Officers checked the area but had no luck finding the man.

Burglary: Police were sent to a Malibu Drive address on March 13 regarding missing firearms and ransacked rooms. The homeowners were at work and got home to find handguns and rifles missing, as well as video games.
It appeared the home may have been broken into through the attic. Police found footprints and other evidence, and the case is under investigation.

Recovered stolen trailer: A U-Haul employee was inventorying equipment on March 14 when she discovered a trailer that had been reported stolen in Florida on Dec. 26. “She stated someone had backed the trailer into a parking stall along with the other trailers sometime during the night.”

Theft: In February, the maintenance man at Cypress Bend Mobile Home Park reported that “22 air conditioning unit disconnect boxes were stolen from various lots… He stated he began receiving calls from people that their air conditioning units were not working.”
The boxes contain small pieces of copper. He didn’t know who swiped them, but valued the total at about $341.

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