Springfield Woman with Drugs Driving Stolen Car Arrested After Leading Officers in Two Counties on Pursuit

May 9, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

An intoxicated Springfield woman driving a stolen car with drugs and paraphernalia led DeKalb County deputies on a pursuit east on Highway 70 Saturday before ramming two White County patrol cars and being forced to stop.

35-year-old Kaleigha Beth Arnold is charged with promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of burglary tools, simple possession of a schedule IV drug, driving on a suspended license, driving under the influence, evading arrest in a vehicle, reckless endangerment, violation of the implied consent law, and simple possession of a schedule I (heroin). Her bond totals $58,000 and she will make a court appearance on May 25.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Saturday May 6 a deputy was traveling east on Highway 70 when he spotted a silver Honda Pilot fail to maintain its lane of travel. He had the license tag checked through central dispatch and learned that the car had been stolen in Smithville. The officer got behind the vehicle and turned on his emergency lights and sirens but the driver, Arnold failed to stop. He then started a pursuit of the car east on Highway 70 and along the way Arnold passed and almost hit several other vehicles. As the pursuit left DeKalb County, White County deputies assisted in trying to get the fleeing car to stop by putting down spike strips near Old Kentucky Road but even with a successful deployment of the spike strips the car continued east and rammed two White County patrol cars causing damage to both vehicles. Officers of both the DeKalb County and White County Sheriff’s Departments eventually stopped the car and removed Arnold from the vehicle.

According to Sheriff Ray, Arnold admitted to having stolen the car, having taking heroin two hours prior to driving, and having been in possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia. A search of the vehicle turned up a black zip up bag containing a glass mason jar with used and moist brown paper towels, clear tubing, a glass beaker wrapped in black electrical tape with residue. Coffee filters were also found in the interior zip up pocket of the bag as well as red phosphorous and several matchbooks all normally used in the production of methamphetamine.

Sheriff Ray said officers also found in the car two syringes, a glass pipe with residue, scales and other items used for narcotics as well as a gray zip up container with several tools and a lock pick kit used to gain access to the vehicle. On the driver side, Sheriff Ray said officers found a red, black and green rubber container that held an orange-colored substance believed to be heroin. In the center console was a red Swisher Sweet package containing 34 yellow pills thought to be Gabapentin.

Arnold has two prior convictions for simple possession and a driving on a suspended license offense in Robertson County in December 2022 for failure to satisfy fines. Because she appeared to be intoxicated or high at the time of her arrest, Arnold was charged with driving under the influence, and she refused to submit to a blood test resulting in a charge of violation of implied consent.

May 8, 2023
By: Bill Conger

DeKalb West School continues to take a step forward with the use of technology in the classrooms with a fun approach to learning computer coding.

DeKalb West School Computer Teacher Lori Vandergriff received an $800 Hometown Help grant from Middle Tennessee Natural Gas for the purchase of coding robots. The organization has helped fund past projects for Vandergriff including most recently a 3D printer for the computer lab

Students in grades 2-5 are learning to design a pathway or obstacle course by creating a computer code for the Botley coding robots to maneuver.

“Students in grades 6-8 use Sphero robotic spheres to code and navigate through mazes, play games, and write code with Javascript like real programmers use,” Vandergriff explains.

In October, Vandergriff attended a STEM workshop at Tennessee Tech about ways to introduce coding.

“I already use a program called Kodable with the younger grades, I use Code.org with the middle grades, and 6-8 use Code Combat. Kodable and Code.org use block coding to help students learn the terminology and basic coding. Code combat introduces 6-8 to Java, Python, and C++ coding. They write code to create and play video games. The robots are just another way to allow the students opportunities to learn about coding.”

May 8, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Tiger Soccer Team finished 2nd place in District 6 AA. The team will play in the District Semifinals on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. vs the winner of Stone Memorial and Upperman (weather permitting).

Several DCHS Tiger Soccer players were named to the All-District Team:

District 6 AA MVP: Yair Mata

Offensive MVP: Miguel Mata

1st Team All-District: Cooper Brown, Axel Aranda, Cameron Miller, Ryder Miller, Yair Mata, and Miguel Mata

2nd Team All-District: Adan Ramirez, and Connor Vance

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