With burglaries and thefts on the rise recently, Sheriff Patrick Ray is asking you to be more aware of your surroundings to guard against becoming a victim.
“If there are strange vehicles or people walking in your neighborhood who you don’t know, call us and we will come and check them out”, said Sheriff Ray. “Most thieves will case out houses to break into. Thieves will try to figure out a “day to day pattern” of victims to try and set a time to break into the victim’s residence.”
Sheriff Ray also urges you to keep your vehicle doors locked when they are parked and unattended. “Thieves have entered unlocked vehicles and broken out windows trying to steal items they have seen lying in the vehicle such as gifts, purses and bags. GPS devices are also a target. Make sure to take down your GPS device off the window including the suction cup. A GPS suction cup stuck to a window tells the thief that the GPS is probably in the glove box or under the seat. There have been vehicle thefts like this in the western part of the county around the Snows Hill area. If at anytime of the night you hear a noise such as a bang or glass breakage, we encourage you to call us immediately so a deputy can check it out.”
“We have also had theft reports in the Dale Ridge Road and the Temperance Hall areas where thieves have been stealing items such as lawn furniture, rocking chairs, hose pipes, gas grills, wooden benches, and power lawn tools such as leaf blowers. ”
“Motion lights are great tools to keep thieves away from your vehicle, home, and outbuildings. A motion light will activate if something or someone moves in front of the sensor alerting you something is out there. The motion light is inexpensive and easy to install.”
“If you notice any suspicious activity in your neighborhood, you may call the Central Dispatch Center at 215-3000 so an officer can assist or if you know of anyone selling items such as the ones listed above, you may call me at 597-4935 or the Crime Tip Line at 464-6400. All calls are kept confidential.”

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has made an arrest in a theft investigation, in which the same residence was burglarized twice within days of each incident.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says detectives arrested 26 year old Bradley Shane Redmon of Young Green Road, Smithville Saturday, March 14th after an investigation into two burglaries and thefts at the same residence.
Detectives received the first report on March 2nd. Taken from the residence were a Bose surround sound system, laptop computer, 3 flat screen televisions, a DVD player, CD player, Xbox and a play station 3 consoles, television stands, battery charger, a jump start box, Hinkle knife set, 2005 Honda rancher four wheeler, and other items valued at over $16,000. Detectives were able to recover the Honda four wheeler on Wednesday March, 11th. Then on Thursday March,12th, detectives received a separate report from the same residence that another break in had occurred there and the four wheeler had been stolen again.
Detectives interviewed Redmon and he admitted his involvement in the crimes. He also told them the location where the four wheeler had been taken. Most of the stolen items were recovered including the four wheeler.
Redmon was charged with 2 counts of aggravated burglary, one count of theft over $10,000, and one count of theft over $1,000. His bond was set at $225,000 and he will appear in court on March 26th. More arrests are pending.
Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Department Detectives responded to a break in on Wednesday, March 11th at the Intimate Pleasures business on Highway 70 East. Shortly after the break in, Detectives arrested 33 year old Billy Paul Mooneyham of Parkway Drive, Smithville. A search warrant was executed at Mooneyham’s residence and some of the stolen items were found in his vehicle. Mooneyham was charged with burglary and theft of property. His bond was set at $35,000. While being housed at the DeKalb County Jail, Mooneyham broke a fire sprinkler head in the cell which caused a loss of 100’s of gallons of water and damage to jail equipment. Mooneyham was charged with vandalism and his bond was set at $2,500. He will appear in court on all charges March 26th. More arrests are pending in the burglary and theft investigation.
39 year old Christopher Neil Patterson of Big Hickory Court, Smithville was stopped Monday, March 9th on Highway 70 West after deputies received a call about a drunk driver. Officers noticed Patterson had slurred speech and was very slow and uncoordinated. Patterson submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. Deputies also found a bag on Patterson’s person which contained 39 pills believed to be Xanax. Patterson was arrested and transported to the DeKalb County Jail and charged with a first offense of driving while intoxicated and possession of a schedule IV drug (Xanax). His bond was set at $4,000 and he will appear in court on March 26th. Patterson was also issued a citation for violation of the implied consent law after he refused a blood test.
Deputies stopped 41 year old Steven Eugene Olson of Foster Road, McMinnville on Friday, March 13th for weaving on Highway 70 East. Officers noticed that Olson had slurred speech and an odor of alcohol on his person. After failing field sobriety tasks, Olson was placed under arrest for a first offense of driving under the influence. His bond was set at $1,500 and he will appear in court on April 9th.
Deputies received a call Sunday, March 15th at a business on Highway 70 west where someone kept passing out while trying to eat his breakfast. Deputies stopped the vehicle and found 35 year old Jeffery L. Sanders of Lincoln Street, Smithville to be intoxicated. Deputies performed field sobriety tasks on Sanders which he failed. Officers asked Sanders to submit to a blood test and his response was to “Take me to Jail”. Sanders was charged with a first offense of driving under the influence and he was issued a citation for violation of the implied consent law. His bond was set at $1,500 and he will appear in court on March 26th..
Also on Sunday, 30 year old Bert Charles Scott Jr. of South Judkins Lane, Smithville was arrested after officers found him in control of his vehicle that had run off of the roadway into a ditch on Rolling Acres Road. Deputies noticed a strong odor of alcohol on his person and Scott was very unsteady on his feet. Scott submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. Scott also could not produce a valid driver’s license. He was arrested and charged with a first offense of driving under the influence and no driver’s license. His bond was set at $2,500.00 and he will appear in court April 2nd.
47 year old Bret Kenneth Boring of Johnson Chapel Road, Sparta was stopped Sunday for traffic offenses. Boring was found to be impaired and officers administered field sobriety tasks which he failed. A computer check of Boring’s license also revealed them to be suspended for failure to satisfy a citation. Boring was charged with a second offense of driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license. His bond was set at $4,000 and he will appear in court on April 23rd.

Smithville Police have arrested the two men believed to have been responsible for an attempted robbery at Bumpers Drive-In on Friday, March 6th.
Detective Jerry Hutchins, Jr. says 26 year old Ashley Jerome Ferrell and 25 year old Johnny Lynn Devault are both charged with one count of criminal attempt for robbery. Ferrell is also charged with one count of assault while Devault is charged with one count of criminal responsibility for assault. Bond for both men is $30,000 each and they will appear in General Sessions Court April 2nd.
Detective Hutchins says Ferrell was interviewed Wednesday after being picked up by police and gave a statement admitting to his involvement in the crime. Devault was picked up at a local grocery store Saturday.
Ferrell was a passenger of a Chevy pickup truck he owns, driven by Devault, who pulled in at Bumpers Drive-In around 6:40 p.m. Friday night, March 6th.
According to Detective Hutchins, Ferrell got out of the truck and stayed hidden behind the building as Devault pulled into a stall and ordered a drink. Before the car hop delivered the order, Ferrell allegedly motioned for Devault to drive around to another stall in a more secluded area to the back of the building, which he did.
After the car hop delivered the order and started away from the truck, Ferrell allegedly came up behind her and grabbed the apron she was wearing, which contained a money bag. The car hop sustained a minor injury in the attack. As she screamed for help, the car hop also turned and struck Ferrell with the metal serving tray she was holding. Ferrell, who fled on foot, did not get the money bag, but did apparently drop some cash as he made his getaway.
A male car hop, who heard the screams of his fellow employee, initially chased after Ferrell but gave up the chase, to pick up the bills left on the ground. Ferrell did not escape with any money from the restaurant.
Meanwhile, the driver got out of the truck and came to the front door of the restaurant, telling the manager that he had forgotten to give the car hop a tip. And when he was asked to stay and give an account of what he had seen to the police upon their arrival, the man got back in the truck and left. Restaurant employees got the tag number of the truck and reported it to police.
Police say Devault picked up Ferrell on Bright Hill Road and they were last seen going out the Cookeville Highway.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Smithville Police Department have issued an alert for a missing four year old child from Smithville, believed taken in a family abduction.
The child, Timothy Landis Carter Adcock, has been missing since February 12th. He is believed to be with his non-custodial mother, 46 year old Deisy Kronfel Adcock. According to authorities, the woman and child may be traveling in a red 2002 Ford Taurus and could be in Louisiana, Texas, or still in the local Tennessee area.
A custodial interference warrant was issued for Ms. Adcock on March 13th.
The child is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. He is three feet, six inches tall and weighs 42 pounds.
Ms. Adcock has brown hair and brown eyes. She is five feet, six inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.
Call the Smithville Police Department at 615-597-8210 or 615-215-3000 with any information you may have.

The Smithville Police Department will be conducting sobriety checkpoints on Saturday, March 21st in a better effort to keep our roads safe and to deter impaired driving. The Smithville Police Department has also increased it’s Traffic enforcement effort and saturation patrols. The sobriety checkpoints will be taking place in the area of Highway 70 east, Highway 56 south, and Short Mountain Highway. The Smithville Police Department is continuing to work with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office in these efforts.

If you didn’t complete your high school education, you can go back to school through the adult high school program.
Coordinator and Instructor Susan Hinton says many people have taken advantage of this opportunity.”This is about our third year in existence. This particular year, we have served over thirty seven students. I have approximately eight students who will have graduated, as of this week. I expect about three or four more students to graduate soon. The students graduate as they finish their course work. We will have a graduation ceremony in September.”
“I get many calls from people wanting to get into the program, but I refer them to DCHS School counselor Lori Barnes-Myrick. Call her at 615- 597-2243 or set up an appointment with her. She will go through your record and determine how many credits that you have. There are different qualifications depending upon what years you were enrolled in high school. The state requires participants to take a reading exam and you have to be reading on an 8.1 level in order to come into the program. If you are transferring from another school system, the requirement is that you do have to live in DeKalb County. She (counselor) checks the school record to determine the credits needed. To receive any high school credit, all students must have twenty credits. That’s basic credits. That also has to be in certain subjects.”
“The classes meet from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. each day (on the high school campus). Adult high school student have two scheduled breaks during the day and they have a one hour period at lunch. They may go anywhere they wish, but we close down the building from noon until 1:00 p.m. That enables them to go home, if they need to check on their families or whatever. After lunch, they come back and we open again at 1:00 p.m. Our schedule runs concurrent with the program of the regular school system. In other words, if schools are out for a snow break or other inclement weather, we are also out. If it’s a teacher/faculty day, then schools are closed at the adult high school. The only exception is that instead of the regular summer school, adult high school is open all day again and that happens around the month of June. So it’s kind of a year round program.”
Hinton says students who attend the adult high school are not taking a short cut to obtaining their diploma. “Each student is independent in their subjects, so they’re pretty much self guided. Each course has it’s own set of criteria, depending upon what subject the student is working in. I also do career counseling with them and we have guests in from time to time to talk to them about various careers. There’s not a short cut. Each class takes 133 hours and that is clock hours. They have to do the work to match the clock hours. They have to pass that subject. In other words, if they sit in there and they do the time and don’t do the work or pass then they will fail. It would be an “F”. A half of a credit is 70 hours so they have to do 70 clock hours plus the work that goes with that subject. So there’s not a fast cut. They can only do one credit at a time. I also have some high school students who have already had a course and did not complete it for credit. So for them there is what is called Credit Recovery and sometimes they can go back and pick up a class by doing computer work that matches that class. But even that is quite a bit of work. That is not a short cut either. There is no short cut to getting a high school diploma.”
In addition to Hinton, the adult high school staff is made up of W.C. Braswell and Beverly Ferrell
For more information call the high school guidance department at 615- 597-2243 or the adult high school at 615-597-2254.

Fourteen DeKalb County High School students recently competed in the Regional National History Day at Middle Tennessee State University.
Freshmen students Kalli Mitchell, Laura Pafford and Amanda Laxton placed 2nd in the Senior Division Group Display Board category with their entry, “Elizabeth Blackwell: The Woman Who Changed Medical History.”
Freshmen students Katelyn Goodwin, Taylor Cantrell and Sydney Robinson placed 2nd in the Senior Division Group Documentary category with their entry, “Hometown Hero.”
Junior student Tiffany Young placed 2nd in the Senior Division Individual Documentary with her entry, “Nikola Tesla: The Man Who Made the Future.”
These students will go on to compete at the State History Day held in Nashville on April 4, 2009.
(The accompanying digital photo is of six of the seven students going on to compete in the State History Day competition. From left to right, they are: Katelyn Goodwin, Taylor Cantrell, Laura Pafford, Tiffany Young, Amanda Laxton and Kalli Mitchell)