A 42 year old woman suffered an apparent broken ankle while hiking with family and a friend on nature trail Sunday afternoon at Edgar Evins State Park.
Charlie Parker, DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator, says the woman was with her two teenage children and a friend when she apparently slipped on some rocks and twisted her ankle while hiking on the John C. Clayborn trail.
Parker says the woman used a cell phone to call 911, but she was so far out in the woods, about two to three miles, it was difficult to get her out. Emergency workers kept in contact with her by cell phone and used GPS coordinates to pinpoint her exact location.
Parker says the woman, who could not walk, was placed in a basket and taken down to the lake, where TWRA officers transferred her by boat to a nearby boat ramp. From there, she was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Cookeville.
Among those participating in the three hour rescue operation, in addition to Parker, were Park Rangers and maintenance employees at Edgar Evins State Park, DeKalb EMS, members of the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Team, DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb County Volunteer Firefighters, TWRA Officers, DeKalb County deputies, and the Putnam County Rescue Squad.
Meanwhile, a 17 year old Nashville youth was seriously injured late Saturday night after he fell some 40 to 45 feet into a gorge at New Frontiers on the Old Snow Hill Road.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says he and other officers responded to the 911 call along with DeKalb EMS.
The boy was removed from the gorge and taken by ambulance to Lebanon where he was airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.
The boy, apparently visiting New Frontiers on a retreat, suffered a serious head injury.

Sheriff Patrick Ray’s first days on the job have been busy.
In a meeting with the local news media Friday, Sheriff Ray says he has already begun some investigations and is in the process of making his administration more accessible to the public. “We’ve got a drug problem here and we’re going to work on the drugs. That’s one of the first things we’re going to do. We’re also going to work on the burglaries and thefts here. We’ve been getting in a few theft reports today and we’ll be working on those. As a matter of fact, I’ve already got some people working on them now.”
“One of my campaign promises was to have an open door policy to the public. I want everybody to know they are welcome to come in and talk to me or call on the phone if they need to get in touch with me. We’re here for the people. We answer all calls and are ready to help everybody the best that we can do.”
“We started early this morning (Friday) doing the cleanup behind the jail. We’re doing an inventory of the jail today and an inventory of the seized vehicles out back. We’ll be having a sale here pretty quick to get rid of some of these vehicles. I’m working with County Mayor Mike Foster in trying to find a place to tow our seized vehicles. We’ll be keeping the area behind the jail mowed and cleaned up.”
“Here in front of the jail, we’ve taken down a temporary partition that was up. We want the public to feel like they’re invited to come in and talk to the staff or to me.”
Sheriff Ray says he plans to have inmates working under supervision picking up roadside litter and they will possibly work some at schools when children aren’t present or maybe at the landfill, but don’t expect them to work on patrol cars. “I don’t agree with the philosophy of letting inmates work on vehicles. If I put somebody in jail for something, I would not want them putting brakes on my patrol car or any of my guy’s patrol cars. We’ll be using local businesses to do most of the work.”
Ray says he plans to start a Senior Safe program soon. ” One of the first programs that I want to start is my Senior program. As I was going around the county (during the campaign), I talked with a lot of seniors who live by themselves or have some kind of physical disability. We’ll be starting that program pretty quick. What we will need is their names, addresses, and phone numbers. We’ll also need to know if they have any kind of disability. One of my employees will make daily checks on them to make sure they’re okay.”
Don Adamson will be Ray’s Chief Deputy. “Don has law enforcement experience in his background. When I went and talked to him about taking the position of Chief Deputy here, he was a School Resource Officer in Wilson County. He agreed to come on board and I’m proud to have him. Don will be accessible to the public and if anybody wants to talk to him, they will be able to call or come and see him.”
“I’ve made out a schedule for my deputies. A 12 hour shift schedule, rotating weekends. We have two people on days, two on nights, and a swing shift person. All these people will work together in the department. In the jail, the previous administration had two jailers on but we have four on. We’re full capacity on correctional officers and we also have a good staff of qualified deputies.”
Sheriff Ray again stresses that his office door will always be open and if you have any questions or concerns, drug tips, or information, you may call 597-4935 or come by and see him at the DeKalb County Jail.

An Alexandria man was injured in a one car traffic accident Saturday morning on the Walker Creek Road.
Trooper Johnny Farley of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says Danny W. Caldwell was driving a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am west on Walker Creek Road when he lost control while maneuvering to avoid hitting a deer.
The car went across the east bound lane, off the shoulder, struck a ditch and overturned. The vehicle came to rest on its top in a field off the road.
Caldwell was taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital where he was treated for head lacerations and other non life threatening injuries.

A 20 year old man, seriously injured in a traffic accident around 3:50 a.m. last Friday morning, August 25th, on Highway 56 south near Sink Creek, died Thursday at Vanderbilt Hospital.
Sergeant Billy Prater of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says Eduardo Cardinas of Franklin was driving north in a 1998 Dodge Dakota pickup truck when he failed to negotiate a curve after cresting a hill, went off the right side of the road, traveled 317 feet down a ditch line, struck the end of a guard rail, and continued another 163 feet. The truck overturned several times before it finally came to rest on it’s right side at a drainage ditch. Cardinas was ejected from the vehicle.
Sergeant Prater says three other motorists on Highway 56 struck a portion of the guardrail that protruded out in the road after the crash, but none of them was injured.
Prater says Cardinas was airlifted from near the scene and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital.
In addition to DeKalb EMS, members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department