News
Smithville Police Treat Head Start Children to Gifts for Christmas (VIEW VIDEOS HERE)
December 14, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
Children at the Smithville Head Start Center were treated to bags of gifts today (Friday) thanks to the Smithville Police Department’s “Cops4Kids” program.
Police Chief Mark Collins, Mayor Josh Miller and other members of the police department joined Santa in presenting the children with the gifts. Other guests included the Collins Family who sang for the children and Dwayne Cornelius, a local minister and Chaplain of the Smithville Police Department who shared the Christmas story.
“This is the fourth year I have been doing it. It’s a really good day for us. I don’t know who gets the most out of it us (Police Officers) or the kids but we come and spend a couple of hours with the children here at Smithville Head Start and we bring them gifts. Santa Claus makes a special appearance. We have singing. Its just a good thing for them. All the guys at the Police Department really enjoy it,” said Police Chief Collins.
IMG_3452 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
The bags of gifts for the kids were provided as a courtesy of Cash Express of Smithville who recently held a collection drive.
(PLAY VIDEO BELOW TO SEE THE COLLINS FAMILY LEADING THE CHILDREN IN SINGING JINGLE BELLS)
IMG_3422 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
“Cash Express in Smithville and the girls there are phenomenal . They put out collection boxes in the community and the public donated toys. Cash Express in turn gave the toys to us. Each year if we don’t have enough gifts we go and buy what we need for these kids but most of the gifts come from Cash Express from the donations made to them by the citizens of DeKalb County and I want to say thank you to all. You really have to be here to experience how touching this is because this may be the only Christmas some of these children get because their parents can’t afford to buy Christmas gifts,” added Chief Collins.
Smithville Man Indicted in Smith County for Attempted First Degree Murder
December 14, 2018
By:
A Smithville man has been indicted on two counts of attempted first degree murder in Smith County for allegedly shooting at two deputies.
According to the Carthage Courier, a 10 count indictment was handed down by the grand jury on December 3 against 44 year old Steve F. Mabe, Jr..
In addition to firing at officers, Mabe is charged with illegal possession of various drugs, unlawful possession of a weapon, theft of property and evading arrest.
The indictment alleges Mabe attempted to kill sheriff’s department Sgt. Jimmy Gregory and Deputy Nick Campbell during an incident which occurred on October 5, 2017, on Ward Hollow Road near the Brush Creek community.
The following is an account of the incident at the time as reported by the Smith County Insider
Sgt. Jimmy Gregory of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a Ward Hollow residence in Brush Creek following a report of someone trying to break into a vehicle.
Gregory arrived in the area just after 1 a.m. and drove around to see if there was anyone walking down the road. On his way back, he noticed a red Jeep Cherokee next to a building. He went on down to the residence and made contact with the complainant.
According to the arrest warrant, the complainant stated that her dogs were barking at something. She looked out her son’s window and saw a man standing next to her car.
The complainant set the car alarm off and stated that she heard a man and female arguing in the woods beside her house, according to the arrest warrant. She then stated that she heard what sounded like an ATV start up and drive off, according to the arrest warrant.
Around this time, Deputy Nick Campbell arrived at the location. Gregory and Campbell drove up the road and parked.
The officers walked down to a trailer and looked around it but didn’t see anything out of place. They then started walking down the road a bit farther and saw the red Jeep start up and drive a short distance into the woods.
Per the arrest warrant, Gregory described the Jeep as being “kind of loud” and that it could be mistakened for an ATV.
The officers crossed the cable at the building and started walking toward a wooded area.
When Gregory and Campbell were about 25 to 30 yards from the Jeep, a flash and gun shot came from the other side of the vehicle, according to the arrest warrant.
Gregory announced themselves as being with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and for those in the Jeep to come out with their hands up, but they took off running into the woods, according to the arrest warrant.
Dispatch was alerted of shots fired and the SRT Team (Special Response Team) was activated and sent to the officers’ location.
While waiting for the entire team to show up, Gregory heard the Jeep start up. He got on his PA and stated that “this is the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, come out with your hands up,” according to the arrest warrant.
Two male individuals, Joshua Spurlock (25, Silver Point, Tennessee) and Richard Davidson (23, Smithville), walked out of the wooded area and were taken into custody. They stated they had been working on a truck, according to the arrest warrant.
When the rest of the team showed up, they started clearing out vehicles as they came to them. Along the way, they came into contact with a camper on the property, which they advanced to.
While searching the camper, Martha Hale (37, Smithville) was found hiding under a bed with a rifle beside her, according to the arrest warrant.
Hale was placed in custody and then taken back to the staging area with the weapon.
At that point, the search turned to Steve Mabe (44, Smithville). The officers cleared the building behind the camper and then started down some trails.
As they were going through the woods, they came into a clearing where marijuana plants were growing.
Gregory and Lt. Jenkins stayed behind at the camper to guard the plants. While waiting, they heard movement behind them.
The officers went back to the patch, and when they turned on their flashlights, they saw Mabe standing over a bundle of marijuana.
Mabe was told to freeze, and he took off running. As he was running, he turned to the right and fell, according to the arrest warrant.
When Jenkins and Gregory made it to the area where he fell, they looked for him.
According to the arrest warrant, Mabe had put on a ghillie suit and was hiding in the weeds.
Mabe was then found and taken into custody, and Deputy Silcox and Sgt. Gregory took him to the staging area. According to the arrest warrant, a Kel Tec .9 mm fell from Mabe’s waistband.
They went back to the Jeep and found the casing that had been fired earlier, according to the arrest warrant.
When they got Mabe back to the staging area, he was searched again, and a metal box with five oxycodone 15 mg were found in his pocket along with a blue plastic container with 27.3 g of meth in it. They then went back and harvested the marijuana and brought it out.Units from Gordonsville, South Carthage and Carthage P.D. responded for backup initially and helped set up a perimeter and transport suspects.
Spurlock and Davidson were held for investigation and then released.
Sarah J. Cripps to Address Tech Grads on Saturday
December 14, 2018
By:
Tennessee Tech’s 856 fall graduates will hear ideas on how to be lifelong learners during Saturday’s commencement ceremonies.
Sarah J. Cripps, a 1994 Tech graduate, attended public school in DeKalb County and was the first totally blind student to have been mainstreamed in Tennessee public school system throughout the entirety of her secondary school career.
Cripps returns to her alma mater as the commencement speaker where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history with a 4.0 grade point average and received the university’s highest honor, the Derryberry Award. While at Tech, she was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board, Phi Alpha Theta, Omicron Delta Kappa and was named a Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.
Cripps earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law and over the past 20 years has maintained a solo practice in Smithville. She also served as Smithville’s city attorney for several years.
She is married to Raymond Mack Garner, an attorney in Maryville, who serves as the elected fifth district public defender. They have two dogs: Iris Bronte Cripps, a Yorkshire terrier; and Penny Garner, a Standard Poodle.
Her hobbies include playing the guitar and singing folk music, reading, swimming and hiking.
Graduates of the arts and sciences, engineering, interdisciplinary studies and nursing programs will walk in the 9:30 a.m. commencement while graduates of the agriculture and human ecology, business and education programs will walk in the 2 p.m. commencement.
The fall 2018 graduating class consist of women and men from 73 counties throughout Tennessee, 24 states and 28 other countries. Those receiving undergraduate degrees represent 38 fields of study while those receiving graduate degrees represent 25 fields of study.
Commencement ceremonies will be held in the Hooper Eblen Center.
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