Category: News

Linda Branch, 73, of 70 Davis Street in Tullahoma died Wednesday as the result of injuries from a house fire.
Branch was at home alone Tuesday night when fire broke out. According to Tullahoma Fire Chief Richard Shasteen the fire appeared to have started in an electric plug behind a chair where she was sitting.
James Bennett, her grandson, told Tullahoma Police Officer Tyler Walls that he and his girlfriend had gone to the store and when they returned they found smoke coming from the residence. Bennett said he got on the floor and crawled toward the door when he found his grandmother near a side door but was unable to get her out. While Bennett was trying to get his grandmother out of the house his girlfriend called 911.
Branch was transported to Tennova-Harton Hospital by Coffee County Ambulance Service where she was placed in a waiting Lifeflight helicopter and flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. She then died Wednesday from injuries sustained in the fire.
Shasteen requested the Tennessee Bomb and Arson personnel to investigate the cause of the fire and they determined that it was an accidental fire.

Tullahoma Police are investigating the burglary of Walgreens on North Jackson Street. According to a report by Tullahoma Police Officer Randy Baltimore, police arrived at the store around 4 a.m. on March 4 to a burglar alarm call.
When officers arrived they found the front sliding glass door had been pried open. Officers Baltimore, Carl Pyrdom, Jamison Wells, Matt Pruitt and Sgt. Chase Sons entered the building and made sure that there was no one was inside.
The manager arrived and he pulled up store security video that showed two males. One was wearing a gray hoodie with black stripes, black gloves and a skull mask. The other was wearing a red hoodie, black gloves, black pants and a red belt.
The video showed the two using what appeared to be a yellow crow bar to open the door and enter the building. They went to the rear of the building to the pharmacy area. An inventory revealed that they took several bottles of prescription drugs.
The thieves damaged three locks on the cabinet containing the drugs, one roll up pharmacy gate and two front sliding glass doors.
Detective Johnny Gore is following the investigation checking for suspects in the burglary. (Courtesy Tullahoma News)

James Fredrick Jenkins, 47 of Trussler Road, Monteagle was arrested March 8 on multiple drug charges in Manchester.
Jenkins was charged with third offense of driving on revoke/suspended license, possession of drugs in a drug free zone, manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamines and tampering with or fabricating evidence/destruction of evidence by Manchester Police Officer Daniel Ray.
According to an arrest warrant, Jenkins was stopped by officers and as he was getting out of the vehicle he had a beer in his hand. He was observed digging in the ground and found to be trying to bury something. When the officer approached the man Jenkins tried to conceal a plastic bag containing 11 grams of meth.
A check of his driving status revealed he was driving on the revoked/suspended license.
Jenkins was booked into the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $77,000 and is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court March 28.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an arrest was made on Wednesday in a 2013 cold case homicide that occurred in Lincoln County.
Joe Speck faces one count of criminal homicide in the death of Michael Mitchell, who was found dead on March 25, 2013.
Mitchell was dismembered and had been left for weeks before his body was discovered inside his Flintville, Tennessee, home. He was 54 years old.
An investigation eventually led to Speck, who authorities say was Mitchell’s acquaintance, as the person responsible.
He was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Lincoln County jail. He’s currently being held without bond.

Late Sunday afternoon a pick-up truck driven by Walter Lowery was traveling North on Hwy 53. According to a report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the pickup attempted to turn left onto Old Woodbury Hwy. A silver Kia driven by James Coffee was traveling south bound and stuck the truck. Two passengers in the Kia were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injures due to crash.
The silver Kia caught on fire and the New Union VFD was called to scene to extinguish the car. Manchester City Police, Coffee County deputies, and THP responded.

Grundy County Sheriff’s Office personnel had been looking for a missing teenager. Her name is Sarah Elliott.
She left her home at approximately 6:30am on Monday March 6, 2017. She was found safe late Wednesday night.
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office thanks the public for its input.

A Warren County woman is charged for the third time with TennCare fraud involving prescription drugs. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the arrest of Audrea Mosley, 26, of Morrison. She is charged with doctor shopping for drugs, which involves visiting multiple providers in a short period of time to obtain prescriptions – in this case, the painkiller Hydrocodone – using TennCare as payment. She was being held in the Warren County Jail on unrelated charges and upon release was transported to Davidson County where she was served. Mosely was charged in Warren County in December of last year with doctor shopping for the painkiller Oxycodone, using TennCare as payment. She was first arrested three months prior to that, in September 2016, on an indictment in Rutherford County, charging her with using TennCare benefits to doctor shop for Oxycodone. “Eliminating abuse of TennCare benefits, especially to obtain narcotics, is one of our main priorities,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “Local police, providers and the healthcare community are with us in our effort to weed out this problem within the TennCare program.” District Attorney General Glenn R. Funk is prosecuting. TennCare fraud is now a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 2,805 people have been charged with TennCare fraud. Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions. Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or visit the website and follow the prompts that read “Report TennCare Fraud.”

A bill seeking to reduce the penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana in Tennessee has been extinguished in a state Senate committee.
The Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 on Tuesday against the measure sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarbro. The bill would have made possession of less than one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of no more than $50.
Pot possession is currently a Class A misdemeanor that can be punished with up to nearly a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
The legislation was filed by Yarbro and Rep. Harold Love, a fellow Nashville Democrat, in response to a Republican bill to repeal any city ordinances to reduce the penalty for people who possess small amounts of marijuana.