Department activity as of 02/10/2020

A man has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly pulling a gun as a woman and her two children arrived home last week.
71 year old Bennie Ted Evans of Cookeville Highway, Smithville is under a $5,000 bond and he will be in court February 27.

On February 2 as the woman drove into the parking spot in front of her home on Cookeville Highway, Evans approached and started an argument with her. The woman’s 12 and 15 year old daughters were also in the vehicle. Evans allegedly put his hands on the door as the woman tried to exit the vehicle, drew a .22 caliber Beretta from his holster, and pointed the gun toward the car. No one was injured.

A Cookeville couple has been charged with stealing a credit card and two handguns from a DeKalb County residence.

33 year old Jeremy Scott Gordon and 19 year old Selena Martha Shellenbarger are each charged with fraudulent use of a credit card and two counts of theft. Bond for each is $10,000 and they will make a court appearance on February 27.

On December 26 Gordon and Shellenbarger allegedly stole a credit/debit card from a residence on Dobbs Cemetery Road along with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson and a .38 caliber Rossi handgun. They allegedly used the stolen credit/debit card taking $1,019.26.

29 year old Kayla Nicole Adams was issued a citation on February 6 for simple possession of marijuana. Her court date is February 20.

During a probation search at Adams’ home on Jacobs Pillar Road, officers found less than a gram of marijuana by the television in the living room. It weighed 0.3 grams.

41 year old James Ricky Ashford, Jr. of Delong Road, Smithville is charged with violation of the sex offender law. His bond is $10,000 and he will make a court appearance February 13.

On February 4 officers learned that Ashford had been living at a home on Eckles Heights Street in Liberty since Christmas in violation of the sex offender registry since it is not listed as his primary or secondary residence.

20 year old Robert Stephen Derrick of Toad Road, Smithville is charged with assault. His court date is February 20. On January 31 Derrick, a prisoner at the jail, kicked a correctional officer in the upper thigh during an altercation with him.

Department activity as of 02/06/2020

Three people were arrested at a Smithville residence last week after officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department found drugs while serving a warrant.

52 year old Dana Seborn Cantrell of 218 Jennings Lane, 46 year old Shirley Ann Hardy of Dadeville, Alabama, and 37 year old Crystal Michelle Baker are facing drug charges.

A deputy went to Cantrell’s home on January 28 to serve a warrant on him. While there the officer obtained consent for a probation search of the home and found 38 white pills and a yellow capsule believed to be Gabapentin inside Cantrell’s bedroom. The search also turned up twenty five clear, blue, and yellow baggies and a digital scale. Eight blue pills believed to be xanax and a yellow pill thought to be oxydodone were also found.

Cantrell was charged with sale and delivery of a schedule V drug and he was cited for simple possession of schedule IV and II drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia (baggies).

Hardy is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver and cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.

As the officer was conducting a search of Cantrell’s home he spoke with Hardy, who was there, and she produced from inside her pants two clear baggies which contained a crystal like substance believed to be methamphetamine which weighed a total of 1.9 grams. Hardy also had a black zippered pouch which contained a digital scale, a blue pill grinder, and four rounds of ammunition for a .38 caliber special.
Baker is facing charges of sale and delivery of a schedule V drug (Gabapentin) and a citation for simple possession of schedule II and IV drugs and drug paraphernalia. She was also at Cantrell’s home and while conducting a search, a deputy found belonging to Baker a bottle inside a bag containing 258 tan and yellow capsules (Gabapentin), one yellow pill (oxycodone), three pills (hydrocodone), one orange pill (aderol), one blue pill (diazepam), one blue pill (klonopin), and one blue pill (xanax). Inside her purse was a baggie containing a crystal like substance (methamphetamine) which weighed 0.5 grams. Baker also pulled from her chest area 1.3 grams of meth wrapped in paper. The search of Baker further yielded two digital scales, a marijuana grinder, and a cut straw.

Bond for Cantrell, Hardy, and Baker is $5,000 each and they will appear in General Sessions Court February 13.

55 year old Vincent Rodolphus Helser is charged with violation of the sex offender registry. He is under a $5,000 bond and his court date is February 13.

Although he was not charged as part of the drug bust at Cantrell’s home , Helser was arrested on January 28 after officers learned that Helser had been staying in a living room there. The reason for the arrest was because Helser had not registered as a sex offender since leaving the jail on state probation January 9 which is a violation of the sex offender registry law.

29 year old Randy James Wheeler of Chapman Hollow Road, Dowelltown is charged with being a fugitive from Justice. His bond is $10,000 and he will be in court February 13.

On January 24 Wheeler was booked into the Sheriff’s Department and during a background check through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) officers learned that Wheeler had warrants against him in Kansas. Authorities in Kansas plan to extradite Wheeler.

35 year old Joshua Ryan Cripps of Steeple Chase Drive, Smithville is charged with having contraband in a penal institution. Cripps’ bond is $5,000 bond and his court date is February 6.

On January 16 a correctional officer helping perform a shakedown in the jail annex cell found a xanax pill after searching the area around Cripps’ bed. The pill was under the top blanket.

67 year old Melvin Leon Crips, Sr. of Village Place, Smithville is charged with filing a false report. His court date is February 20.

On February 1 a deputy went to Crips’ home to serve a warrant but Crips told the officer the person he was looking for was not there. During a search, the person named in the warrant was found inside a kitchen dishwasher at the home.

51 year old Tammy Lynette Stringer of Church Street, Liberty is charged with sale and delivery of a schedule II drug (methamphetamine). Her court date is February 20.

On October 27 a detective found 0.2 grams of methamphetamine at Stringer’s home and she admitted that the drug belonged to her.

51 year old Ricky Lynn Murphy of Ferrell Road is charged with driving under the influence. He is under a $1,000 bond and his court date is February 20.

On February 3 a deputy pulled over a blue Ford truck for a tail light law violation. Murphy, the driver got out of the truck, and walked toward the officer’s patrol car. The deputy ordered Murphy to stop but he refused and became belligerent. His eyes were bloodshot and pupils dilated. Murphy submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. He was then placed under arrest.

Department activity as of 1/25/2020

A man wanted for violation of probation was arrested recently after a deputy spotted him trying to hide in a barn.

45 year old Billy Wayne Crook of Lawery Road, Smithville is charged with evading arrest. He was also cited for simple possession of a schedule III drug (suboxone). Bond for Crook is $5,000.

On January 14 a deputy was patrolling on Keltonburg Road when he saw a maroon Chevy Impala fail to dim its headlights. The car turned onto Students Home Road and then to Willis McGinnis Road before pulling into a barn. The driver got out and hid in the barn behind some rolls of hay. As the officer entered the barn to conduct a search, Crook ran out. Crook was subsequently captured and placed in custody. Found in Crook’s right front pocket was a plastic baggie containing an orange pill believed to be suboxone.

35 year old Joshua Ryan Cripps of Virginia Avenue, Smithville is charged with possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to sell or deliver. His bond is $10,000 and he will be in court January 30.

On December 17 a deputy responded to a location on Hodges Road, Smithville and found that Cripps had overdosed. In Cripps’ possession was a small baggie of a crystal like substance which weighed 1.14 grams that field tested positive for methamphetamine and a baggie with a powder like substance which weighed 0.18 grams that field tested positive for heroin.

20 year old Gabriel James Hesson of Oak Drive, Smithville is charged with theft of property. He was further cited for violation of the light law and failure to stop at a stop sign. His bond is $10,000 and he will make a court appearance on February 6.

On January 17 a deputy was traveling inbound on Highway 70 and spotted a silver four door car run a stop sign at the intersection of Evins Mill Road and Highway 70. The car also had a taillight which was not working. The officer conducted a traffic stop on East Main Street in Smithville. Hesson was driving the car. During the traffic stop central dispatch notified the officer that the car was reported stolen out of Wilson County. The car was valued at $2,500.

Department activity as of 01/22/2020

After trying to outrun the law in a stolen truck and then on foot, a DeKalb County couple is facing theft and evading charges.

37 year old Joseph Huff Ray of Belk Road and 21 year old Taylor Nicole Fults of Four Seasons Road will make an appearance in General Sessions Court January 30. Each is charged with theft of property and evading arrest. Bond for each is $15,000.

The couple was in possession of a Nissan Titan truck which had been stolen recently from someone in the City of Sparta.
Witnesses reported having seen the truck in DeKalb and Warren County since the theft so law enforcement officers had been on the lookout for it.

A DeKalb County deputy spotted the truck on January 2 and tried to stop it. But after activating his blue lights, the truck refused to stop and sped up trying to get away. The officer gave chase until the truck went off the road and got stuck in ditch near a field. Both Ray and Fults, who were in the truck, got out and took off running. The two were later captured and charged in the case.

Department activity as of 12/31/2019

Two men were found with heroin and methamphetamine during a traffic stop last Friday. 21 year old Travis Michael Jenkins of Carthage, the driver and his passenger, 40 year old Patrick Ryan Goolsby of Smith Road, Smithville were taken into custody.

On Friday, December 27 a deputy pulled over a silver Chrysler 300 for a registration violation and during the traffic stop the driver, Jenkins identified himself as Tyler Jenkins and gave a false date of birth. Authorities later learned Jenkins’ true identity and date of birth.

Jenkins appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance and he admitted to have taken pills and smoked some marijuana. Jenkins performed poorly on field sobriety tasks and while he submitted to implied consent, a search warrant was obtained for a blood sample from him.

During the investigation, Jenkins gave the deputy consent to search his vehicle and a bag of a white powdery substance weighing 3.5 grams believed to heroin and along with a set of scales were found on the driver’s side of the automobile. Two bags containing a total of 1.6 ounces of a crystal like substance believed to be meth and another set of scales were also found on the driver’s side.
The deputy learned that Jenkins’ license are revoked for failure to file an accident report in Rutherford County in 2013. He also has two prior offenses against him for driving on a revoked license.

Jenkins is charged with criminal impersonation, driving on a revoked license, driving under the influence, possession with intent manufacture, sell, or deliver methamphetamine, and possession of a schedule I controlled substance. He was further cited for registration violation and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond totals $82,000.

Goolsby is charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver methamphetamine and possession of a schedule I controlled substance. His bond is $70,000. Both men will make a court appearance on January 9.

A woman who assaulted her boyfriend with a broom during a domestic disturbance on Christmas Day will be in court January 9.

46 year old Jennifer Sue Pitt of Lee Braswell Road, Smithville is charged with domestic assault. Her bond is $2,500.

On December 25 a deputy was called to Pitt’s residence due to a domestic disturbance and upon arrival he spoke with both Pitt and her boyfriend who admitted that they had gotten into an altercation which turned physical as Pitt struck him about the head several times with a broom leaving cuts and knots on his head. When she saw her boyfriend bleeding from the assault, Pitt said she called EMS . Pitt had no physical marks on her and she was determined to have been the primary aggressor.

12/17/2019: Smithville Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Minor

A Smithville man caught with images of children engaging in sexual activity has been arrested.

67 year old Rick Allen Meurer of West Main Street, Smithville is charged with 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The warrants allege that on December 10 Meurer knowingly possessed one image of a minor female child (in one case) and a minor male child (in the other case) engaged in sexual activity. Meurer admitted to having possession of the images.

His bond totals $30,000 and he will make a court appearance December 19.

Department activity as of 12/16/2019

A Smithville man who assaulted a woman and locked her inside his home against her will make a court appearance on December 19. 22 year old Ronald Barbosa Gutierrez of East Main Street is charged with kidnapping (false imprisonment) and aggravated assault. He is under a $25,000 bond. On December 12 a deputy was called to Allen Street, Smithville due to a fight. Upon arrival he spoke to a woman who had a large knot on her forehead and marks on her neck. She reported that Gutierrez had pushed her to the ground, hit her in the head twice with a beer bottle, and tried to choke her as she held her four month old son. Gutierrez then locked her inside the residence and would not let her leave. Gutierrez also started a physical confrontation with the woman’s brother who was at the home.

36 year old Jennie Michelle McDaniel of Hayes Ridge Road, Lancaster is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and domestic assault. Her bond totals $15,000 and she will be in court on January 9. On December 14 McDaniel forced her way into a residence on Oak Drive and assaulted her husband and another woman. McDaniel struck the woman in the face causing swelling and a bruise under her left eye. McDaniel also tried to choke her husband, struck him in the face, and tried to stab him with a screwdriver and box cutter. He suffered scratches to his neck, red marks on his neck and face, and a small cut on his left palm.

26 year old Chad Stephen Taylor of Cleveland Way, Smithville is cited for possession of methamphetamine. While serving an arrest warrant, an officer found in Taylor’s bedroom a white clear crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine. The meth was in plain view. His court date is January 19.