Former fire lieutenant facing felony 'terroristic threat' charge

Already in jail on an alleged probation violation, former Barrow County fire lieutenant Todd Orr now has been formally charged in connection with the July 30 phone call in which he allegedly told his estranged wife that he wished he had blown her head off.

Orr, 46, was charged at about 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, with one felony count of making a terroristic threat/family violence.

The warrant states, "Donald Todd Orr threaten to commit an act of aggravated assault, a crime of violence with the purpose of terrorizing Teresa Orr."

According to the Georgia Code, a person can be charged with a terroristic threat when he "threatens to commit any crime of violence."

The code states that the offense is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and by one to five years of incarceration.

Earlier this year, Orr avoided a felony conviction in connection with a 2010 Christmas Day gun incident that resulted in serious injuries to his pregnant daughter and to himself. A felony conviction could have led to the loss of his state certifications as a firefighter and emergency medical technician.

Under that May plea agreement, felony and misdemeanor indictments were not prosecuted in exchange for his pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct. At the time of the second incident two weeks ago, he had completed the second of 24 months of probation.

He was incarcerated Aug. 8 for allegedly violating his probation and likely will remain in the Barrow County Detention Center at least until that alleged violation goes before the judge, the sheriff said.