Motorist allegedly found with heroin and meth during traffic stop

September 3, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A motorist was arrested Sunday after allegedly being found with heroin and methamphetamine during a traffic stop.

47-year-old Martha Renee Kirby of Smithville is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; driving while in possession of methamphetamine; possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver; and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver. Her bond is $46,000 and she will be in court September 19.

Chief Deputy Brian Williams of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department said that on September 1 a deputy pulled over a BMW driven by Kirby and during the stop the officer received consent to search and found in the vehicle a clear baggie containing a white powdery substance believed to be heroin that weighed 1.66 grams; three other clear baggies that held a crystal like substance thought to be methamphetamine with a total weight of 5 grams; and three glass pipes believed to contain drug residue.

47-year-old James Walter Stringer of Dowelltown is charged with violation of the sex offender registry. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court September 12.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on August 30 a deputy went to a residence on West Main Street in Dowelltown to conduct a welfare check on a woman and child but found Stringer there alone with the child. Stringer claimed the woman, who had left the residence, was his girlfriend and that she had left the child, her daughter, in his care while she was gone. But that constituted a violation since Stringer is under a court order not to be alone with a child unsupervised not related to him.

43-year-old William Davis Tarpley of Gordonsville is charged with public intoxication. His bond is $2,000 and he will make a court appearance September 12.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on August 31 Tarpley was found to be under the influence. He allegedly admitted to having taken 10 pills earlier in the day and showed signs of intoxication by sweating profusely, being unsteady on his feet, and his pupils were dilated.

42-year-old William Joseph Scott is charged with possession of a handgun while under the influence, driving under the influence, and reckless driving, His bond is $5,500 and he will be in court September 19.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on August 31 a deputy was on patrol when he spotted a red Dodge Ram with a taillight out doing a burnout in the intersection of West Bryant Street and South College Street with the driver having no regard for other citizens and vehicles around. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Scott who smelled of alcohol. His eyes were bloodshot and watery. Scott was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. He allegedly admitted to having consumed two shots of alcohol and he said a loaded handgun could be found on the front seat. The weapon, a Beretta APX 40 caliber handgun, was recovered. Scott was asked to submit to field sobriety tasks, but he refused.

45-year-old Jessie Comer Harris of Dowelltown is charged with public intoxication. His bond is $1,500 and he will be in court September 19.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on September 1 Harris was found to be under the influence. He was sweating profusely. His pupils were dilated, and he could not focus on a single conversation.

27-year-old Raymundo Larragoytia Serrano of Smithville is charged with driving under the influence and no valid driver license. His bond is $4,000 and he will be in court September 19.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on September 1 a deputy was traveling west on East Broad Street when he spotted a black Chevy Monte Carlo leave its lane of travel several times. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Serrano who smelled of alcohol. His eyes were red and watery, and he was unsteady on his feet. He allegedly admitted to having consumed five alcoholic beverages prior to driving. Serrano submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. Upon arrival at the sheriff’s department Serrano also allegedly admitted to having taken cocaine prior to driving. He had no valid identification.

September 2, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Can you hear me now?

For several weeks, greater Liberty area cell phone customers of Verizon and other providers have experienced trouble with their service.

Although subscribers have reported the problems, many are still having issues and are upset that little if anything seems to be getting done by their providers to resolve them.

“I have had about 70 complaints from people. Verizon has been the biggest issue but there have been some problems with AT&T and Straight Talk. Some people from Alexandria and Dowelltown have even told me they have had problems,” said Liberty Mayor Audrey Martin in an interview with WJLE Saturday.

“A lot of people’s phone calls are being dropped when they try to make a connection and even when they do get through you can’t hear what people are saying over the phone because of so much static,” Mayor Martin explained.

“People who conduct business out of their homes are being affected because they can’t get a good connection. I know one lady who reached out to the (phone) company at least 10 times and each time she got a different answer or she would get a ticket number that she was supposed to type in to get better service. They would give an explanation as to what was going on and said that it would be fixed in a certain time but when it wasn’t fixed and she called back they told her something totally different. Her husband works out of the home and his business is being affected because he can’t get through to people and they can’t get through to him”.

“I am really concerned what’s going to happen when someone has an emergency and has to get in touch with 911 and can’t get through. That’s a problem. Its pitiful that Verizon is not taking responsibility to get this fixed,” Mayor Martin continued.

Efforts may be made to reach out to state and federal officials or lawmakers for help.

“I just want everyone to know that we are on this and we will try to get this resolved as soon as possible,” said Mayor Martin.

September 2, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Should you ever receive a call or text about a suspicious purchase on Amazon, don’t respond. It’s a scam.

Helga Thompson of the Dry Creek community learned the hard way two years ago and is warning others after falling prey to a scam in which she lost $5,000. Only recently, Thompson learned that a friend of hers was also almost taken in by the same scam.

“They hooked me with my fear,” Thompson told WJLE. “Scams feed on two things including fear and our wanting to help somebody. I learned all this the hard way. I am college educated. I have traveled half the world and would never have thought I could fall for a scam but they got me. I was so angry that I didn’t know better but I didn’t want anybody else to go through what I did. I said if I don’t put my name out there and let it be known that it’s a real person that this has happened to its just another bit of information than can be ignored. Yes, that $5,000 hurt me but it didn’t take away my life savings,” she said.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, this complicated scam starts with a call or text message about a suspicious charge on your Amazon account. But it’s not really Amazon. It’s a scammer with an elaborate story about fraud using your identity that ends with you draining your bank or retirement accounts.
In her case, Thompson said she received a call with a computer message claiming to be from Amazon, asking if she would confirm a purchase made through her account of an Ipad.

“I was just getting ready to eat breakfast about 9 am when my phone rang. It was a computer message from Amazon asking if I had made a purchase of an Ipad in New York for $1,400. If not press one. I pressed one because I had not made such a purchase. I was then transferred to someone who said they were from Amazon security. He said that he could not stop the purchase because all of my data had been hacked. In the meantime on my desk top computer I went to Amazon and saw no notice of activity. The man said that was because of the level of the hack so he had to transfer me to the Federal Fraud office. I was transferred to someone identified as Adrian Chase of the federal fraud department who said that someone had hacked into my bank accounts and was renting a car and house in my name in Texas,” said Thompson.

The scammer warned Thompson that her bank accounts and credit cards would be frozen, and that she would need to go withdraw money from the bank before this happened and put it in a Bitcoin account in order for the government to send her a debit card so she would be able to pay her bills. He also warned her to remain on the phone with him during the transaction.

“He said that they had to freeze all my accounts and credit cards. I said how would I pay my bills that were on automatic payment?. He said I would have to take the money out of my checking account at the bank and put it in Bitcoin which is a secure way to have money and the government would send me a debit card for that money so I could pay my bills. He also said not to tell anyone since my bank may be involved and that my phone may be hacked. Now all this was on my land line phone. He told me not to get off the line with him. I told him I had to drive down the road to get a cell phone signal, which I did as I went to the bank to withdraw my money. I was on the phone with him for about two hours,” said Thompson.

After realizing she had been scammed, Thompson reported the incident to local law enforcement authorities.

“I went to the police but when I got there they said there was not a thing they could do. The money was gone so who were they going to investigate and arrest? There was no recourse. They (scammers) use transferring computers in other countries and there is no way to trace these calls and as soon as you hit a money transfer its gone with no way to get it back,” said Thompson.

“While I was at the police station, I got a call on my cell phone from someone (scammer) who said he needed more information. He said you need to send us your banking information. I said I know this is a scam and I am here at the police station. He hung up. The police tried to call back that number but it was already disconnected,” said Thompson.

Two weeks ago, a friend of Thompson’s had a similar experience. “I got a frantic phone call from somebody that lives on Dry Creek. It was somebody I know who had heard of my experience. She was frantic. She was on the way to the bank to transfer all of her money because she had been hacked. She said they (scammers) told her if she told anybody she would get arrested. They said she needed to transfer this money and then they would send her a card. I knew from what she told me that this was the same scam and I warned her. Luckily, she called her financial advisor and he too said it’s a scam but it took him warning her otherwise she was getting ready to lose her life savings”

“I just want others to know that Amazon or any of those type companies will never call you and neither will the government so never do anything over the phone. If you get a suspicious call hang up and find the company’s phone number and call back to make sure,” said Thompson.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, $10 billion were lost to scams in 2023. One in four people reported losing money to scams with an average of $500 per person. Email was the number one contact method for scammers. One way to spot a scam is to understand its mechanics.

To avoid impersonator scams:
Don’t wire money, send cash, or use gift cards or cryptocurrency to pay someone who says they’re with the government. Know that the government will never contact you out of the blue, demanding money or information. Hang up. It’s a scam.

Never pay anyone who demands payment by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Only scammers ask you to pay these ways because it’s hard to track that money, and almost impossible to get it back. Hang up if it’s a call. If it’s an email, text, or message on social media, don’t click any links.

Don’t trust your caller ID. It might show the government agency’s real phone number or even say “Social Security Administration,” for example. But caller ID can be faked.

If you come across something you think is a scam, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or, in Spanish, at ReporteFraude.ftc.gov.

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