Smithville Police Arrest Illinois Woman for Trying to Obtain Fraudulent Vehicle Title

October 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

An Illinois woman has been arrested by Smithville Police for trying to obtain a fraudulent vehicle title.

28-year-old Rodnesha Daniels of Rockford Illinois is charged with theft and altering/changing a vehicle identification number.

Chief Mark Collins said that on October 10 police were summoned to the County Clerk’s Office where a woman tried to pass a fraudulent title. Upon arrival, officers found Daniels trying to leave the clerk’s office and they stopped her on South Congress Boulevard. During the investigation, police learned that Daniels had been to several different counties using fraudulent paperwork to obtain vehicle titles. Special agents from the State of Tennessee assisted in the investigation. Officers discovered the automobile that Daniels had been driving bore two different VIN numbers in different locations. Daniels was placed in custody and her bond set at $110,000. She will be in court October 31.

40-year-old Shannon Herman of McMinnville is charged with simple possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Chief Collins said that on October 1 an officer pulled over Herman’s vehicle knowing that he was wanted in another county. A background check through central dispatch confirmed the charges and Herman was taken into custody. During a search of Herman’s automobile, police found several items associated with drug use and a large amount of different types of pills. Herman’s bond is $11,500.

39-year-old Angie Hawks is charged with criminal trespassing. Chief Collins said that police were called to Webb Street on September 17 where a homeless woman had previously been ordered by police to keep away from. Upon arrival, officers informed the woman, Hawks that she would have to leave the premises at the property owner’s request but she would not go. Hawks was then placed in custody. Her bond is $2,000.

40-year-old Aryani Martinez and 34-year-old Isabal Soto both of Smithville are charged with public intoxication. Chief Collins said that on September 24 police were summoned to Miller Road to break up an altercation between two women. Upon arrival, the officers found Martinez and Soto in the roadway. Both were unsteady on their feet, had slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. They were placed in custody. Bond for each was $1,500.

46-year-old Jason Cline is charged with two counts of aggravated assault. According to Chief Collins, police were summoned to Short Mountain Highway on September 22 due to a fight in progress involving weapons. Upon arrival officers and learned from two victims that Cline had stopped in front of their home, grabbed a tire tool, and began walking toward them. Fearing for their safety, the victims called 911. Police were informed that Cline became upset over a road rage incident that had taken place previously between the parties and that Cline had admitted to having made a poor decision. Cline was taken into custody, and his bond was set at $10,000.

53-year-old Richard Turner is charged with aggravated assault. Chief Collins said that on October 4 officers were dispatched to Fisher Avenue due to a domestic complaint. Upon arrival police spoke with Turner and the victim and found physical evidence of an assault including attempted strangulation. Turner was determined to have been the primary aggressor and placed in custody. His bond is $10,000.

48-year-old Danny Dowell of McMinnville is charged with aggravated trespassing. According to Chief Collins, police responded to a trespassing call on Jennings Lane October 7. Upon arrival, they found Dowell and his vehicle on the property. Dowell had previously been warned by police several times to keep off the premises because residents there feared him. Dowell was placed in custody and his bond set at $4,000.

40-year-old April Sobotka is charged with driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and cited for financial responsibility and driving on roadways laned for traffic. Chief Collins said that on October 12 police conducted a traffic stop on East Broad Street for failure to maintain lane of travel and spoke with the driver, Sobotka who smelled of alcohol. She admitted to having consumed a couple of drinks earlier. Sobotka submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. She was taken into custody. Bond was set at $6,000.

October 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

In just four days, the early voting turnout in DeKalb County for the November 5th election has already eclipsed the entire number of votes cast in the August 1st elections.

Sample Ballot

From Wednesday through Saturday, October 16-19 the election commission reports that a total of 1,961 people has voted early. The turnout on Saturday was 323 including 314 in person and 9 by absentee. On Friday 530 voted including 521 in person and 9 by absentee. On Thursday, 465 cast ballots including 452 in person and 13 by absentee. And on Wednesday, 643 voted including 492 in person, 100 by absentee, and 51 at the nursing home/Webb House.

In the August 1 election, a total of 1,404 voted in DeKalb County including 700 on election day, 100 paper absentees, and 604 walk-in early voting. DeKalb County had 13,607 registered voters in August.

Early Voting continues through October 31.

In the Presidential election in 2020 a record number of voters turned out locally totaling 8,542 including 4,606 early voters, 511 absentees and 3,425 on election day. DeKalb County had 12,509 registered voters at that time.

On the ballot this year is the Presidential election as well as races for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives (District 6), Tennessee Senate (District 16), and Tennessee House of Representatives (District 40).

In DeKalb County, two referendums are on the ballot regarding a $50 wheel tax and the issuance of general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $65 million for a judicial center and jail.

In Smithville at the courthouse, early voting times will be as follows:

Mondays: 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Tuesdays: 12 noon until 6 p.m.
Wednesdays: 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Thursdays: 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Fridays: 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Saturdays: 9 a.m. until 12 noon

In Alexandria at the Sandlin Building on the Fairgrounds, early voting times will be as follows:

Tuesday, October 22: 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Tuesday, October 29: 12 noon until 6 p.m.

October 18, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Replacing a fire truck!

During Tuesday night’s meeting, the county budget committee voted 5-0 to recommend to the full county commission that $425,000 be allocated from the capital projects fund to purchase a demo fire truck for the fire department in order that one of the older trucks in the fleet can be used to replace a reserve truck, which has been out of service for two years.

County Fire Chief Donny Green had made this request of the budget committee earlier in the year and plans at that time were to fund a new fire truck from capital projects. But upon the advice of the county’s fiscal agent Steve Bates in May, the budget committee decided instead to use proceeds for this purchase from the proposed bond for the judicial center/jail project.

“You might want to consider taking some of these expenditures out of capital projects and adding them within the bond resolution in the event you don’t need all the money you are going to borrow for this judicial center,” said Bates. “I think we will earn enough interest income and to the extent you have some monies left over you might be able to pick up these costs without taking this (capital projects fund) into cash. You would leave the project description in the bond resolution broad enough to capture anything you would have had to deplete your cash for just as a back-up. If there should not be enough money left over, we could always come back and amend the budget and put it back into capital projects. The bond resolution project description can be for construction of the judicial center, county buildings, land acquisition, and emergency response vehicles,” said Bates.

However, due to uncertainties now about the bond issue because of the referendum and the need to expedite the purchase, the budget committee Tuesday night decided to ask the county commission for passage of a budget amendment in the amount of $425,000 for the fire truck from capital projects.

For several years, Chief Green has presented the county budget committee with a fleet replacement cycle plan in his budget presentations.

“The department has had a history of purchasing retired vehicles from other departments, but this has only been a temporary fix,” said Chief Green. “Without occasionally purchasing new apparatuses, the department could be facing having to replace several pieces of apparatuses in the aged fleet at once. Five of our 12 front line fire engines are over 20 years old and the reserve engine that is out of service is 37 years old. The department’s only vehicle rescue truck is 30 years old,” he said.

Green said the concern with the reserve truck is one example of why a replacement schedule is needed.

“Our reserve engine that we have right now has been out of service for two years,” explained Chief Green.

“It’s a 1987 truck that we got from Brentwood when Mike Foster was County Mayor and the manufacturer that built this truck has been out of business for 18 years. We cannot find parts for it now. When we had our last fleet apparatus check done that we do annually through a third-party company, they failed the truck and told us to not put it back on the road, so we don’t have a reserve truck,” said Chief Green.

“ISO (Insurance Services Office) gives us points in our insurance rating for having a reserve apparatus in our fleet, so we need to have a reserve truck. Operational wise, if I have any one of our 12 stations fire trucks go out of service without a reserve truck, I don’t have a spare to slide in and take care of that which happens frequently. Last year we had an engine go down and we were without it for about eight months and that station was without coverage. Its important to have a reserve truck especially for a fleet our size with 12 stations that covers 305 square miles. This demo fire truck will let us take one of our oldest apparatuses out of service, put it into reserve status, and get rid of the old reserve truck that is not working,” added Chief Green.

Even obtaining a demo truck could take time. “We can’t buy any kind of new truck for $425,000 and we’re going to be pressed even on availability of finding a demo truck because the build time is 18 months to 24 months which has driven the used market crazy because people are buying the best used truck that can find rather than wait on something new,” said Green.

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