Two Weakley County men are incarcerated in Carroll County Jail after leading McKenzie police officers on a high-speed chase through Carroll and Henry counties Monday afternoon.

    Andrew Smothers, 24, and Jacob Davis, 20, who reside on Bell Store Road near Gleason, are currently being held in Carroll County Jail. Smothers is charged with theft of cattle, felony evading arrest, aggravated assault with a vehicle, felony reckless endangerment, and driving on a revoked license," according to Sgt. Ricky Sawyers of McKenzie Police Department. Davis is charged with misdemeanor evading arrest.

    At 2 p.m. Monday, Sgt. Sawyers received notification from Weakley County Sheriff's Department that two men in a white Dodge truck had sold seven head of stolen cattle at a stock barn in Scotts Hill. WCSO personnel advised the men would likely attempt to cash a check, written to Smothers in the amount of $3,607.00, at Bank of Gleason in McKenzie. Sawyers notified the local bank of the situation and asked that personnel contact authorities should they arrive at the location and detain the men as long as possible.

    “At 3:10 p.m. we got the call from bank personnel,” said Sawyers, who notified other police units to respond to the scene as well, in an attempt to block in the truck.

    “I knew one of the suspects and knew that he had a reputation for running,” said Sawyers.

    When the two customers saw police arrive at the bank, they fled, almost hitting Officer Ryan White's police SUV in the process. Smothers’ vehicle jumped the curb at the bank, damaging the bank’s lighting and water system, before heading south on Highway 79 with police in pursuit.

    Smothers turned right on Cedar Avenue, traveling toward downtown McKenzie before turning right on Main Street. At the end of Main Street, the vehicle ran through a barricade indicating a dead-end street, before crossing a ditch, entering College Drive and continuing toward Highway 22.

In pursuit at this time were Sgt. Sawyers, followed closely behind by Officer White and MPD Sgt. Gary Walker.

    The suspects turned left on Highway 22 and then right on Highway 140 (Como Road).

“During the chase, we were getting information that an armed robbery had occurred earlier that afternoon at Bruceton,” said Sawyers. There was concern for a time the suspects might have been involved in that incident. However, no connection had been made between the men and the Bruceton robbery at press time Tuesday morning.

Sawyers noted that Smothers had dropped off a cattle trailer at a relative’s home in Bruceton earlier that day.

    The suspects were traveling 80-90 m.p.h. down Como Road, when another driver pulled in front of the suspect at the intersection of Radford Lake Road.

 

(Read the rest of this story in the November 26th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)

    A Martin couple was sentenced to prison in connection with a child abuse case, after several people offered testimony in Weakley County Circuit Court Tuesday, November 18.

    The defendants, 21-year-old Wesley Griffin and 25-year-old Tiffani Callahan, who were originally charged with aggravated child abuse for the role they played in last year’s beating of Griffin’s two-year-old son, Austin Cash, pled guilty to the lesser offense of aggravated assault.

During the six-hour sentencing hearing, Judge William Acree heard testimony from 11 witnesses, including doctors from Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, investigators who worked the case, and friends and family of the accused.

    At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Acree sentenced Callahan to six years in prison, which is the maximum allowed for aggravated assault, and Griffin was sentenced to five years.

    The case first came to light during the evening of July 28, 2007, when Martin Police Department officers were dispatched to Volunteer Community Hospital in Martin to investigate the circumstances involving a child with a serious head injury. When Investigator James Hatler arrived, he saw that the then 19-month-old boy had bruises and cuts on his head and arms, and severe head trauma.

    Due to the extent of the victim’s injuries, the child was airlifted to Le Bonheur in Memphis where he remained two months for treatment of critical injuries that included skull fractures and brain swelling.

(Read the rest of this story in the November 26th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)

   A 23-year-old Martin woman was arrested on DUI related charges last week after she crashed her vehicle into a Martin residence.

    According to a Martin Police Department incident report, at approximately 7:28 p.m. Friday, November 11, Ptl. Timothy S. Dolcak was dispatched to investigate a report that a vehicle had crashed into a house on South McCombs Street.

    When Ptl. Dolack arrived at the scene of the accident, he saw a red, 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis in the yard of a residence on South McCombs Street, with the driver still at the wheel and the vehicle still running.

    Ptl. Dolack states as he approached the vehicle, he saw that the driver, Lisa Marie Herane, of 125 Highland Avenue, Martin, appeared to be passed out. When the officer attempted to open the door, the driver fell to the side. Ptl. Dolack states he could not get the door all the way open, so he reached in to unlock the passenger door. At that time, the woman became alert and grabbed a spray can of dust remover located in the passenger seat. Herane allegedly put the nozzle to her mouth, pulled the handle, dispersing the contents of the can into her mouth, and took a deep breath.

    At that time Ptl. Dolack reached in and grabbed the can of dust remover from Herane. The spray can was seized as evidence, along with a receipt that was found which showed the defendant had just purchased the dust remover 17 minutes prior to having the accident.

    Ptl. Dolack states he spoke with Herane in an attempt to wake her up, and after a short time, the woman became alert again and freely admitted she had been inhaling the dust remover while traveling down the road.

    Herane was transported to Volunteer Community Hospital in Martin, where she was treated and released, and taken into custody by Martin police.

    A witness stated she saw Herane turn onto McCombs Street from McGill Street, run over a curb, and turn into a yard at 407 South McCombs Street. The witness said the defendant then pulled back onto South McCombs Street, hitting a post and knocking it over in the process. The driver then traveled north on South McCombs Street and veered off the road into a yard at 220 South McCombs Street, striking the house and coming to a stop on the hedges at 216 South McCombs Street.

    According to the report, damage to the house is estimated at $500 and the hedge $100.

 

(Read the rest of this story in the November 26th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)