SAVANNAH, Ga. – Outrage is erupting across Georgia after a 30-year-old man with a staggering criminal record of 22 arrests since 2020 was charged with attempting to rape a woman in the bathrooms of Daffin Park just 17 days after he was released from jail yet again.
Lashawa Doyle was arrested Thursday afternoon by Savannah police and charged with criminal attempt to commit a felony, aggravated sexual battery, false imprisonment, and public indecency. According to police, Doyle attacked a woman near the park bathrooms. Park employees spotted the assault and alerted an off-duty officer nearby, who chased Doyle down and stopped what could have been a nightmare scenario for the victim.
The woman was treated for minor injuries at the scene. But the real scandal isn’t just the attack itself, it’s how many times Doyle has been allowed to walk free
.Court records show Doyle has been arrested eight times already in 2026 alone. In his last 15 arrests, he was repeatedly released either on his own recognizance or given credit for time already served. Many of his prior charges involved battery, criminal trespass, public indecency, and other offenses.
Local reporters and officials are pointing the finger squarely at Chatham County Judge Claire Williams. Time after time, Williams handed Doyle non-reporting probation or suspended sentences instead of real jail time, allowing the career offender to cycle in and out of custody with minimal consequences.
“This is the eighth arrest this year,” one local official noted. “How many chances does one man get before the safety of an innocent woman matters more than his next release?”
Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo, whose district includes Daffin Park, and state lawmakers are demanding answers. They’re calling out both the judge and the District Attorney’s office for failing to revoke Doyle’s previous suspended sentences when he kept getting rearrested. Prosecutors never filed the motions that could have put him behind bars for longer stretches.
Doyle is currently still in custody. But the episode has reignited fury over revolving-door justice that puts repeat offenders back on the streets while law-abiding citizens pay the price.
Critics say cases like this expose a broken system that prioritizes the rights of career criminals over the safety of everyday Americans. “We do not have to live like this,” one observer put it bluntly.
As the investigation continues, pressure is mounting on Judge Williams and local prosecutors to explain how a man with this record was free to allegedly prey on a woman in broad daylight at a public park.
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