News Herald Arrest Report

Five-day sting ends with arrests
 
The 9th Judicial Drug Task Force, working in collaboration with area law enforcement, recently conducted a five-day operation in Loudon and Monroe counties to combat theft leading up to the Christmas holiday.
 
The operation, based primarily in Rockwood and Lenoir City, was done in collaboration with the Loudon and Roane County sheriff’s offices, Lenoir City Police Department, Loudon Police Department and Rockwood Police Department.
 
“(Theft) spikes around this time of year and the stores a lot of time are reaching out for help,” Brendan DeBoer, 9th DTF deputy director, said. “They don’t have the personnel to deal with it, and it’s a good opportunity for us to make contacts. ... We’re also seeing a lot of car break-ins in parking lots, and people trying to go out and enjoy their holiday shopping are coming back to presents being stolen.”
 
In total, 31 individuals were arrested on various charges, 2,600 articles of stolen property were recovered and seizures of methamphetamine, prescription pills and marijuana were made.
 
“Crimes like these are committed in order to buy more illegal drugs,” Russell Johnson, district attorney general for the ninth judicial district, said in a release.
 
Stolen items were, in many cases, being returned without receipts for store gift cards, which could then be used to purchase Visa gift cards for use at any location.
 
Those gift cards are then often used either to trade for drugs or sold to some pawn shops for 40 or 50 cents on the dollar to purchase drugs, DeBoer said.
 
More than $12,000 in gift cards “obtained through fraudulent means” were recovered from four individuals involved in an out-of-state theft ring, as well as the vehicle used.
 
“This vehicle and its occupants are also suspected to be involved in a large scale theft ring that is operating out of Georgia and involved in an organized theft ring reaching stores in numerous states to include Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and Tennessee,” DeBoer wrote in a release.
 
Other individuals arrested were involved in a theft ring based in Anderson and Knox counties, DeBoer said.
 
“The groups had better organization this year and seem to be making this a regular thing where they’re going out every week to different states or every week to different cities,” DeBoer said. “Some of these individuals had Walmart directories for the East Coast.”
 
The majority of the arrests took place at Walmart in Rockwood and Lenoir City. The operation was executed in conjunction with the 9th Judicial District Overdose Task Force.
 
“There is no acceptable level of overdose deaths, but the numbers that we are now experiencing across many parts of our country are at epidemic proportions,” Johnson said in a release. “Until the pharmaceutical industry shares responsibility for its role in this epidemic and begins working to curtail the supply to responsible daily or weekly doses, this problem will not go away. In my opinion, prescription opioids have created tens of thousands of addicts out of individuals who would not otherwise have found themselves involved with illegal and potentially lethal drugs like heroin and heroin laced fentanyl. This epidemic of addiction has made thieves out of people who would not have otherwise engaged in illegal activity.”

Charges

Theft: 11 charges

Outstanding Warrants: 8 arrest

Drug Offenses: 6 charges

Criminal Trespass: 4 charges

Money Laundering: 4 charges

Forgery: 3 charges

Identity Theft: 3 charges

Drug Paraphernalia: 2 charges

Driving Offenses: 2 charges

Resisting Arrest: 1 charge

Local man charged in rape of teen
 

Local man charged in rape of teen

A Lenoir City man is facing a rape charge after admitting to sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.
 
Lenoir City Police Officer Carlos Espinoza on Thursday served Johnny Lynn Fannin, 58, a warrant for his arrest in reference to an incident that occurred in early November. In a recorded admission to law enforcement, Fannin said he raped a 13-year-old girl.
“(The girl) disclosed in a forensic interview that Fannin had asked her to have sex with him,” Lenoir City Inv. Brad Brown wrote in a report. “(The girl) said ‘no,’ but Fannin pulled her pants down and told her to lay down on his bed.” Fannin then raped the girl.
 
Fannin was charged with rape and held on $200,000 bond.

Dec. 18

• Jason Matthew Vincil, 43, Lenoir City, was charged with a Bradley County warrant and released without bond.

Dec. 19

• Jackson Herbert Devan, 36, Lancing, was charged with assisting other agency and failure to appear and held without bond.
 
• Danielle Darlene Gribble, 42, Sweetwater, was charged with contempt of court and held on $300 bond.
 
• Jill B. Sweeden, 56, Oak Ridge, was charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license, driving under the influence, simple possession/casual exchange, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of legend drugs and released on $7,500 bond.
 
• Devin Cassandra Vaulton, 31, Maryville, was charged with manufacture, delivery, sale or possession of a Schedule II substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of legend drugs and released on $34,000 bond. Observing a silver Volkswagen Passat traveling on North Trigonia Road nine miles over the speed limit in a 30 mph zone, Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Cody Fritts initiated a traffic stop and talked with Vaulton and a male passenger. Fritts noted he could smell an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. After asking to search the vehicle, Fritts found a cut straw and blue baggy with crystal residue in the center cup holder. In Vaulton’s purse, Fritts found two baggies with 9 grams of methamphetamine, 35 500-milligram Metformin pills, eight small baggies, two cut straws and digital scales.
 
• Carrisa Lynne Verwey, 24, Philadelphia, was charged with failure to appear-general sessions and released on $2,500 bond.
 
• Sara Christine Wells, 28, Sweetwater, was charged with failure to appear-municipal court and held on $3,000 bond.
 
• Tyler David Williams, 32, Corbin, Ky., was charged with violation of probation and held on $2,000 bond.

Dec. 20

• John Chandler Adams, 48, Philadelphia, was charged with domestic assault-misdemeanor and released on $2,000 bond. Dispatched to a domestic disturbance on Gallaher Road, LCSO Deputy TJ Scarbrough spoke with a woman who said Adams was in her face screaming and cursing. The “victim stated that she was laying in bed trying to ignore him, he was punching the bed and all around her and hit her left forearm,” Scarbrough wrote in the report, noting the woman had no marks on her arm. The woman then got out of bed to go to her daughter’s room. “Mr. Adams then went to the daughter’s room and forced the door open, slamming his daughter into the wall. Mr. Adams then climbed onto the victim and yelled and spit in her face,” according to the report.
 
• Michael Lee Anderson, 30, Loudon, was charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia and released on $3,000 bond.
 
• April Lynn Bivens, 40, Loudon, was charged with violation of probation and released on $2,000 bond.
 
• Marian Brooks Chastain, 24, Lenoir City, was charged with resisting arrest, failure to obey a police officer and disorderly conduct and held on $3,000 bond.
 
• Jeffrey James Dixon, 40, Madisonville, was charged with public intoxication and released on $1,000 bond.
 
• Sean Kevin Mees, 56, Philadelphia, was charged with driving under the influence and released on $1,500 bond.
 
• Johnny Edward Moore, 58, Philadelphia, was charged with driving under the influence and released on $2,000 bond.
 
• Sarah Elizabeth Rogers, 33, Friendsville, was charged with driving under the influence and released on $2,000 bond.
 
• Leslie Janene Stinnett, 24, Lenoir City, was charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license and released on $1,000 bond.
 
• David Franklin Thomas, 25, Loudon, was charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license and released on $2,500 bond.
 
• Jordan Blake Wallace, 19, Friendsville, was charged with violation of probation and released on $1,000 bond.
 
• Christopher Johnathan Wendell, 48, Loudon, was charged with driving under the influence and released on $2,000 bond. Dispatched near Beals Chapel Road and Northshore Drive for a vehicle wreck, LCSO Deputy Brandon Pesterfield located a male walking in the middle of the road. The male, identified as Wendell, was approaching a driveway on Northshore Drive. Pesterfield noticed Wendell was unsteady on his feet, had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. Pesterfield noticed a man park a van in the driveway and asked who was driving the vehicle when it wrecked. The man said he witnessed the wreck and that Wendell was the one behind the wheel. “I began speaking with Mr. Wendell who almost fell multiple times while speaking with me,” Pesterfield wrote in the report. “I asked Mr. Wendell what happened, to which he at first stated he hit a deer and then refused to speak with me. Mr. Wendell appeared very dazed and confused.” There was no damage to Wendell’s car other than mud on the front. There were fresh tire marks in the grass where the witness said Wendell’s vehicle went off the road.

Dec. 21

• Krystal Lynn Cannon, 31, Lenoir City, was charged with failure to appear and released on $3,000 bond.
 
• Nelson L. Harmon, 47, Philadelphia, was charged with assisting other agency and released without bond.
 
• Erica Lindsay Grace Invester, 27, Cleveland, was charged with driving under the influence and failure to keep right and released on $3,000 bond.
 
• Troy Neil Jamerson, 44, Etowah, was charged with manufacture, delivery, sale or possession of a Schedule II substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a revoked/suspended license and held on $14,000 bond. Observing a 1997 Nissan pickup truck cross the fog line multiple times, LCSO Deputy Kevin Dailey initiated a traffic stop at Steekee and Orr roads. Jamerson said his license was revoked, which dispatch confirmed. After given consent to search Jamerson, Dailey found two baggies of methamphetamine in his wallet, along with a black scale in his right front pocket. Before being transported to jail, Jamerson noted he had a meth pipe in his waistband.
 
• Terry Dustin King, 30, Loudon, was charged with theft of property and failure to appear and held without bond.
 
• Amy M. Macuga, 30, Sweetwater, was charged with violation of probation and held without bond.
 
• Keith Jeffery Shaw, 40, Tellico Plains, was charged with manufacture, delivery, sale or possession of a Schedule II substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a Schedule II substance and held on $32,000 bond.
 
• Keith Dennis Speers, 37, Madisonville, was charged with assisting other agency and released without bond.
 
• Peggy Joan Taylor, 57, Lenoir City, was charged with a Knox County warrant and released without bond.
 
• Joshua Daniel Waldrop, 35, Greenback, was charged with violation of probation and released on $2,000 bond.

Dec. 22

• Heather Nicole Johnson, 23, Lenoir City, was charged with a juvenile attachment and released on $150 bond.
 
• Nicholas Ryan Roberts, 22, Knoxville, was charged with criminal simulation and held on $7,500 bond.

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