Alleged Courthouse Arsonist Re-Scheduled for Trial April 3, 2019

November 28, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Almost two and a half years since a fire at the courthouse, the man accused of setting the blaze has not yet gone to trial.

56 year old Gary Wayne Ponder, charged with arson, made a brief appearance Monday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

Judge Gary McKenzie set the trial date for April 3 but the case will be back on the court docket again on January 16.

One of the reasons for the delay is to determine whether Ponder’s medical condition is affecting his mental state and ability to stand trial.

Assistant District Public Defender Scott Grissom announced Monday that while Ponder’s most recent medical evaluation has been completed the results have not yet been made available to the District Attorney General’s Office. Once state prosecutors review the findings, they will determine whether to ask the court for another independent medical evaluation of Ponder. He has already undergone mental evaluations.

The trial had been scheduled for May but Grissom asked for and was granted a delay. In his motion for a continuance, Grissom included a letter from a nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who saw Ponder on March 21 and found him to be confused. According to Wright, Ponder is being treated for cirrhosis of the liver and that complications from this condition causes confusion. Wright added that she had started a medication to help with his condition.

Smithville Police charged Ponder on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 after he was observed on the courthouse surveillance video system intentionally lighting fire in a newspaper recycling bin on the first floor vestibule. The video showed that on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Ponder grabbed newspapers from the recycling bin and started the fire by lighting them with a cigarette lighter. The fire damaged the wall behind the recycling bin and cracked a window in the vestibule near the first floor entrance of the courthouse.

Local attorney Jim Judkins was the first to spot the blaze. He tried to activate the fire alarm and accessed a fire extinguisher which he used to try to put out the blaze.

Members of the Smithville Fire Department were notified and quickly responded.

County Mayor Tim Stribling said the total damages to the courthouse caused by the fire came to $120,706.52, which was the amount of the claim paid by the county’s insurance provider.

After the fire smoke had to be cleared from the courthouse, new ceiling tiles and dry wall work were required and a broken glass in the vestibule doorway had to be replaced.

The county also installed a new fire alarm system in the courthouse provided by FireTeam of Tracy City at a cost of $35,363.81. The system meets the latest International Fire Codes.

November 27, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

A local man was arrested last week during a traffic stop after he was found with meth and counterfeit bills.

47 year old Chad Everette Knowles of the Loop Smithville is charged with criminal simulation and manufacture, deliver, sale, or possession of methamphetamine. He is under an $80,000 bond and his court date is December 20.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Sunday, November 25 a deputy pulled over a vehicle on Page Drive. Knowles was a passenger. After Knowles consented to a search of his person, the officer found five baggies of a crystal like substance believed to be methamphetamine on the inside of Knowles’ pants. The total weight of the meth was 7.3 grams.  A scale was also found on the passenger side floor board where Knowles had been sitting. Inside Knowles’ wallet were two- $20 bills that bore an odd color, no water marks, and they were missing the strip inside the bill. The bills were checked with a counterfeit detector pen and tested positive for being counterfeit. The bills were then seized and placed into evidence.

46 year old Mark Anthony Mason, Jr. of Dearman Street, Smithville is charged with possession of a schedule II drug (oxycodone). His bond is $25,000 and he will make a court appearance December 6.

Sheriff Ray said that on Wednesday, November 21 a deputy was dispatched to a residence on Adcock Cemetery Road due to a report of an intoxicated man. Upon arrival the officer confronted the suspect, Mason inside the home and searched him. Inside Mason’s jacket pocket, the officer found a pill bottle containing 87 small round white pills believed to be oxycodone.

47 year old Richard Allen Tilly of Short Mountain Highway, Smithville is charged with domestic assault. He is under a $2,500 bond and his court date is December 13.

Sheriff Ray said that after receiving a call Tuesday, November 20 of a physical domestic on Short Mountain Highway, the responding officer met the victim at D & D Market. She reported that Tilly, her ex-husband had grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into a dresser leaving a red mark on her upper back and marks on both sides of her neck. Though divorced, the woman said she and Tilly still live together.

November 27, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Two men were seriously injured in separate crashes over the weekend.

Trooper Chris Meness of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said 39 year old Jessie Harris of Dowelltown was involved in a one car rollover crash Sunday morning at 1:48 a.m. on Midway Road.

According to Trooper Meness, Harris was traveling west in a 2010 Chevy Impala when he went off the left side of the road and into a yard while trying to negotiate a curve before hitting a fence and overturning. Harris, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the car. He was transported by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and then to Vanderbilt Hospital with serious injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

Meanwhile another man, 51 year old Michael Powell of Morrison was critically hurt in a one car crash early Saturday morning at 2:50 a.m. on Highway 70 east near Opal Point.

Trooper Meness said that Powell was east on Highway 70 in a 2002 Ford Focus when he went off the right side of the road while trying to negotiate a curve, hit a telephone pole, and then a tree. Although seriously hurt, Powell refused treatment at the scene and was taken to the hospital for a blood draw. At the hospital medical staff determined that Powell had suffered a broken neck. He was then transported to Vanderbilt Hospital. Charges have been taken against Powell for driving under the influence, failure to show proof of insurance, and failure to exercise due care.

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