Landlord arrested for

threatening tenant and

demanding sex before

turning water back on

A Clarksville man was arrested after he turned the water off to his renter’s home and reportedly told her she had to either sleep with him or “bring me a woman” before he would turn it back on.

Charles Huggins, 57, was arrested May 11 and charged with coercing labor or services of an adult by human trafficking.  Additional charges are pending.

According to the arrest report, the landlord had been acting in a “threatening manner” before shutting down her water.  The tenant said Huggins had threatened to kill her several times and had been walking around the property with a shotgun.  She told a deputy she believed Huggins was responsible for killing four ducks she kept as pets, leaving them on her porch after they had been stomped to death and then sliced open with a knife.

She shared several text messages from the landlord in which he demanded she find someone for him to have sex with.  One message included the demand that he was “expecting an answer tonight.”

The tenant, who is caring for a disabled cancer patient in the home,  said his demands had been going on for some time.  

During his arrest, Huggins admitted to sending the threatening texts.

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Man charged with battery following attack on sandbar

An altercation on a sandbar in the Apalachicola River resulted in battery charges against a Bristol man on May 13.

The victim reported that when he was on the sandbar, he was grabbed and thrown to the ground before being punched by Garrett Carman of Bristol.   He said someone else then pulled Carman away from him.  Carman then left the sandbar, got into a boat but jumped off the boat and swam back to the sandbar.   Others gathered there then stopped Carman and put him back on the boat that took him away from the scene.

Calhoun County deputies and FWC officers caught up with Carman at the Blountstown Boat Landing and took him into custody.

The victim was treated by EMS for injuries to his face and head.  He later drove himself to the hospital.

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Bristol traffic stop leads to discovery of meth & syringes 

A May 10 traffic stop resulted in a series of charges for the driver after methamphetamine and numerous syringes were found in his vehicle.

A Liberty County deputy was patrolling along CR 12 and CR 379A near Lake Mystic when he spotted a vehicle pulling a utility trailer with a faulty brake light and no tag.  The SUV was stopped at Lee Duggar Road and Jimmy Lee Drive.

The driver, Randy Alan Varnum, 41, of Bristol, stated that he thought there was a tag attached to the trailer and got out to look. 

After he was unable to provide a driver’s license, the deputy ran a check and found that Varnum’s license had been revoked in 2016 and canceled in 2017.  The dispatcher advised that the driver was on felony probation.

A second deputy arrived at the scene, along with his drug dog, which then did a free-air search outside the vehicle.  The dog gave an alert for a suspicious substance in the vehicle.  A third deputy arrived on scene.

Deputies reported finding the following:

• Three used hypodermic needles, with one found between the driver’s seat and center console that that still had visible residue and field-tested positive for methamphetamine. 

• Multiple unused hypodermic needles.

• Approx.1 gram of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine found in a glass pipe 

• Approx. .2 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine found in two clear cylinders

• Two clear cylinder containers

• Drug paraphernalia including digital scales and a bag that held numerous small baggies consistent with the sale of narcotics

He was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine, felony violation of probation, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a canceled license.  

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