Four Year Sentences Handed Down in Burglaries

September 7, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A 52-year-old Smithville man received a four-year sentence on Tuesday, September 6 in DeKalb County Criminal Court on charges of burglary and vandalism over $1,000.

Judge Gary McKenzie presided.

Royce Avoin Foster entered a guilty plea to both charges and received a sentence of four years for the burglary and two years for the vandalism to run concurrently. He must serve at least 30% of the term before parole eligibility. Foster was given jail credit for 805 days served.

In the burglary case, Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on May 30, 2020 Foster broke into a shed/garage building on Holiday Haven Road and stole a 50-foot extension cord valued at $50.

In the vandalism case, Detective Brandon Donnell of the Smithville Police Department said, a witness saw Foster break eight windows out of a camper parked at the former location of the Regions Bank Drive-Thru at 509 South Mountain Street before setting fire to a nearby trash can which spread to the camper. Due to the crime, the camper sustained more than $5,000 in damage. Although the blaze came close to a propane tank on the camper members of the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department who were summoned to the scene got the fire under control before it reached the tank.

The incident occurred Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 8:30 a.m.

A man who allegedly stole more than $4,500 worth of athletic gear from the girls softball concession stand locker room at DeKalb County High School last October was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday, September 6.

38-year-old Daniel Ray Wilson entered a plea to a charge of burglary and received a sentence of four years and he must serve at least 30% of the term before parole eligibility. Wilson is to make restitution in an amount to be determined. He was given jail credit from October 24, 2021 to December 20, 2021 and from February 21, 2022 to September 6, 2022.

Sheriff Ray said that on October 4, 2021 Wilson entered the DCHS girls softball concession stand locker room and stole bats, ball gloves, helmets, fielding masks, ball bags and other items valued at $4,561 which belonged to the softball team, student athletes, and parents.

There was no damage to the building.

September 6, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A Dowelltown woman is warning others after falling prey to a scam in which she lost $5,000.

Helga Thompson said that on Wednesday, August 31, 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 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.

September 6, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The third annual Hogs for Dogs and Cats Too Poker Run will be Saturday, September 24 sponsored by the Friends of the DeKalb Animal Shelter.

The day’s events will start at the DeKalb Animal Shelter at 186 Transfer Station Road, Smithville. The ride begins at 9 a.m. with an Open House of the Shelter and Registration.

“We will serve breakfast sandwiches and coffee while you take a tour of the shelter and see the adoptable animals. This will bring more people out to the shelter to see how we operate. If you have never been to the shelter this will be a great opportunity to come by,” said Shelter Director Emmaly Bennett.

“The cost is $20 per registered rider which includes a $5.00 food discount coupon for lunch at Twisted Oaks. Kick Stands up at 10 a.m. The ride ends at around 12 noon at Twisted Oaks and a silent auction will be held there from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and we will have T-shirt sales,” said Friends of spokesperson Cathy Bader

The event is open to all!

All proceeds will go to the Friends of the DeKalb Animal Shelter, a non-profit organization.

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