Crime

Secretary chases man downtown after theft from purse (04/30/08)
A Memphis man was arrested for theft on Tuesday after a woman whose pocketbook he stole chased him into the Dyer County Courthouse. James Jones, 60, 2815 Bay Wood in Memphis, was booked into the Dyer County Jail on a $500 bond. Teresa Shell, a legal secretary in attorney Ralph Lawson's 306 S. Church Ave. law office, said she and Lawson were talking about a case in the office's back room at about 1:45 p.m. when she heard the door open, then close a few seconds later...

88 indictments include variety of sex crimes (04/21/08)

Suspect who stabbed sister plans to be his own attorney (04/21/08)
A 33-year-old man accused of repeatedly stabbing his sister intends to represent himself in court. Tony Adams, 412 Anchorage, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with attempted first-degree murder. His sister, Teresa Adams, received nine stab wounds on her back, arm and head...

State seeks to cancel diversion for former Tiptonville firefighters (04/03/08)
Two men who were sentenced in a series of Tiptonville fires could face additional sanctions. Both of the men -- James Blackburn and his grandson, Brandon Blackburn -- were placed on two years of pretrial diversion in September. The district attorney general's office has filed petitions asking that the diversion be terminated...

17-year-old charged with rape (04/02/08)
A 17-year-old was transferred to Dyer County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face rape and aggravated sexual battery charges as an adult. Timothy Andrew Pettie, no address listed, Dyersburg, was transported from Youth Villages in Memphis after a 30-day evaluation ordered in February by Juvenile Court Judge Tony Childress. He was charged with rape of child (less than 13 years of age) and aggravated sexual battery...

Public defender services revoked in child abuse case (04/01/08)
The man accused of aggravated child abuse was released from the Dyer County Jail on Monday after posting a $25,000 bond. Joseph D. "Binks" Lee, 36, 313 Williams Dr., Dyersburg, was arrested on Friday after police investigators found he had assaulted a 12-year-old relative...

Suspect arrested for abuse of child (03/31/08)
A man suspected of abusing a 15-month old child was arrested by Dyersburg Police investigators on Friday. Joseph D. Lee, 36, 313 Williams Dr., Dyersburg, is lodged in the Dyer County Jail without bond. According to arrest documents, the 6-foot-4-inch, 280-lb. Lee is suspected to have abused the child after a relative of the child's saw bruises and sores in November 2007. The ensuing investigation resulted in the arrest...

Trimble man sentenced in arson case (03/31/08)
A Trimble man pleaded "no contest" to a charge of aggravated arson Monday, March 24, in Dyer County General Sessions Court. Gerry Haley, 30 Seltz St., was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in jail, suspended to the time he'd already served. He was ordered to undergo an alcohol assessment and was placed on probation...

Men accused of stealing car indicted in Fayette Co. (03/30/08)
A Fayette County grand jury indicted two men who were using a car stolen in Dyer County. Mario Smith of Galloway was indicted on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, theft of property in excess of $10,000, evading arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia...

Reputed drug dealer bound over to jury (03/30/08)
A reputed drug dealer with a lengthy criminal history in Dyersburg faces a possible indictment in Lauderdale County. Quincy "Weezy" Johnson, 27, 227 Dandridge St., was arrested Jan. 10 and charged with possessing more than half an ounce of marijuana with intent to sell or distribute. That charge was bound over to the action of a grand jury during Lauderdale County General Sessions Court proceedings on Friday, March 14...

Newbern man shot by assailant (03/28/08)
A Newbern man was wounded by a gunshot shortly after midnight on Friday. According to witnesses and preliminary work by investigators, Aundra Vernal Gilton, 35, 635 Jones St., was shot once in the right leg while he was in the residence by an assailant who opened the front door and fired the shot from a handgun...

Women explain Ridgely murder (03/28/08)
A simmering feud escalated into a fight and ultimately ended with bloodshed and death on a Sunday afternoon in Ridgely. Now, 18-year-old Latandria "Rudy" Kimble faces a likely indictment for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Lake County General Sessions Court Judge Danny Goodman held a preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon and determined Wednesday afternoon that there was enough probable cause to bind the case over to the action of a grand jury. ...

Board again deliberated case in secret (03/27/08)
The Dyersburg Personnel Merit Board met on Monday and again denied former police officer Jim Porter's argument he was wrongfully terminated. But the panel violated the state's open records law by not giving public notice of the meeting. Porter's legal counsel, Dyersburg attorney Ralph Lawson, said he would seize on the mistake to file an appeal and question the violation of the Sunshine Law...

Charges dropped against man accused of two murders (03/26/08)
Murder charges against a Dyersburg man were dropped Tuesday, March 25, in Dyer County Circuit Court. District Attorney General Phil Bivens announced that he did not intent to prosecute Aubrey Tremayne Eison on two counts of first-degree murder. Bivens explained that he's waiting for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to complete tests on evidence in the case. The test results were not going to be ready in time for the April 9 trial...

Eight arrested in meth house move cases to grand jury (03/26/08)
A grand jury is expected to consider charges against eight persons arrested in connection with an alleged methamphetamine lab in Fowlkes. All eight appeared in Dyer County General Sessions Court on Monday, March 24. Six participated in preliminary hearings and two waived their rights to a hearing...

Woman ordered to repay child's transplant fund (03/25/08)
A Dyersburg woman must repay $10,590 missing from her grandson's transplant fund, a circuit court judge declared Monday afternoon. Phyllis D. Vaughn, 57, 711 Wendell Ave., was charged with theft of property in excess of $10,000. She and her husband, Charles Norman Vaughn Sr., were in charge of a fund to benefit their grandson, Odell Terry, a teen-aged cystic fibrosis patient...

Judge orders pretrial release revoked (03/21/08)
A rural Dyer County man was taken into federal custody on Thursday after his pretrial release was voided because his mother found he had continued making methamphetamine. Chad Wilson, 22, 6003 Tatumville Rd., was arrested by federal marshals at an address in Halls on Thursday, several law enforcement sources said...