5 displaced, 4 dogs killed after Nelson Ridge Road fire
Two Brown County families are without homes this holiday season as their homes were destroyed in fires this month.
A family of five is without a home after it was lost in a fire on Nelson Ridge Road Nov. 6.
Brown County (Nashville), Hamblen Township, Cordry-Sweetwater, Southern Brown and Harrison Township volunteer fire departments all responded to the blaze earlier this month.
The home was a “total loss,” Nashville Fire Chief Nick Kelp said. The family of five, who was not home at the time, was displaced. The fire was called into Brown County dispatch by neighbors.
Four dogs perished in the fire. The cause of the fire is undetermined.
The American Red Cross was contacted to help support the family. They have also been supported privately, Kelp said.
A home was lost on Andreas Path after a kitchen fire on Nov. 11.
Southern Brown Fire, Brown County (Nashville), Harrison Township Fire, Hamilton Township Fire and Southwest Fire responded to the 8000 block of Andreas Path for a structure fire.
Southern Brown Fire Chief Evan Johnson said individuals at the residence had been cooking in the kitchen when something started to smoke. They went outside while it cleared, but noticed the smoke started billowing.
Johnson said three quarters of the home burned and was damaged from water. No one was injured.
The American Red Cross was contacted to help support the residents.
A log cabin was lost in a fire on Crooked Creek Road on Nov. 13.
The fire was called in by an IU Health Lifeline helicopter flying overhead around 10 p.m. Brown County (Nashville) Fire, Fruitdale Fire, Hamblen Fire, Jackson Fire and Southern Brown Fire departments all responded.
No one was living in the home, as it was being renovated at the time, Kelp said. There were no injuries. The cause is under investigation.
Nashville woman charged with felony
A Nashville woman has been charged with a Level 6 Felony after she failed to return to a treatment center.
On Oct. 10, Cherie Lawson, 43, left a treatment center with permission for a shopping trip with two other residents of the facility in a van owned by the center. They were given instructions to return after visiting three specific locations.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lawson failed to return to herself or the van to the center.
She was gone from the center past 10 p.m., which was the time of lockdown for treatment residents. Staff then reported to the Noblesville Police Department that Lawson and another resident were still missing from the center.
The van was reported stolen on Oct. 11. Treatment center staff contacted Brown County Probation Pre-Trial Release Officer Brittany Leerkamp and advised her that Lawson was disciplinary discharged from the treatment program.
Information was received at the treatment center from Lawson’s relative on Oct. 15, saying that Lawson had gone to another relative’s house on Oct. 14.
Lawson had allegedly gone to get drugs while on the shopping trip on Oct. 10 and had left the van at a gas station in Bargersville.
Lawson’s relative said she was going to take Lawson to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office to turn herself into the jail and Lawson agreed.
Conditions for Lawson’s release from jail to the treatment center states that she was supposed to report back immediately to the Brown County jail if she was unsuccessfully discharged from the treatment center or if she left the center before completing treatment she would be charged with the Level 6 felony for failing to return to lawful detention.
Lawson was booked into the jail on Oct. 15. The van was recovered by the Bargersville Police Department.
Local man charged with battery
A Nashville man has been charged with a Class A Misdemeanor for domestic battery after police responded to a call at a home on Treetop Lane on Oct. 11.
Nashville Police Officer Billy Bryant, Officer Davis Huynh, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Gibson and Deputy Josh Stargell responded to a report of a battery in progress.
The caller said there were no weapons involved, but the victim was bleeding from the mouth.
Police made contact with the victim at the residence and asked where the suspect was. The suspect was later identified as Brandon Payne, 42, of Nashville.
Officers interviewed Payne, who told them he was not sure what happened. He said they had been watching a football game when he and the victim began arguing.
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers smelled alcohol on Payne’s person.
The victim told them Payne had never touched her previously.
The victim also told police she did not know exactly what happened. She said she and Payne had been drinking.
Payne told police that everything “happened fast,” according to the affidavit. He said that the victim was more upset than he was. He said he was defensive and put his hands up in defense to keep her back.
Police showed Payne images of her wounds and he told them again he had too much to drink.
He was arrested for domestic battery and transported to the Brown County jail. A breath test indicated his blood alcohol level was at 0.230 percent, which is nearly three times the legal limit.
Traffic stop leads to felony charges
VAN BUREN TWP. — A Nineveh man faces felony drug charges after police stopped him for speeding on Oct. 28.
Sgt. Chad Williams with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department was traveling north on Mount Liberty Road when a vehicle traveling south passed him at a high rate of speed. Using a radar, Williams found the rate of speed to be 59 mph in a 40 mph zone, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The vehicle pulled over into a driveway on Valley Branch Road.
Williams made contact with the driver, Timothy White, 31, of Nineveh. According to the probable cause affidavit, White had a previous warrant and was arrested.
During a search of the vehicle, police found a white baggie containing a white crystalline substance in White’s wallet that was believed to be methamphetamine. White told police he did not know what it was as he had just gotten his wallet back from the sheriff’s department a few days prior.
White was transported to Brown County jail. He was charged with a Level 6 felony for possession of methamphetamine on Oct. 29.
Drug charges filed after traffic stop
A Franklin man faces two drug charges after police conducted a traffic stop on State Road 46 West on Oct. 29.
Nashville Police Patrolman Davis Huynh initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle with one headlight in front of the Brown County State Park west entrance.
Huynh made contact with the driver, later identified as Tristan D. Pritchard, 22, of Franklin, who told Huynh he had just purchased the vehicle in Columbus.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Pritchard told police there was nothing illegal inside of the vehicle when asked.
While conducting a search, Huynh found a plastic bag under the driver’s seat with large and small pieces of a white crystalline substance inside and a straw.
Pritchard was transported to the Brown County jail. He now faces a Level 6 felony for possession of methamphetamine and a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Drug charges filed against local man
A local man has been charged with a felony and two misdemeanors after a traffic stop that led to police finding drugs in his vehicle.
Nashville Police Officer Lindsey Downing conducted the traffic stop on Nov. 2 after observing a vehicle failing to use a turn signal while turning from Green Valley Road on to State Road 46 West, a probable cause affidavit states.
Downing initiated a traffic stop just after 10 p.m. and made contact with the driver, later identified as Jeremy Hayworth, 41.
Hayworth advised Downing he was going home from a construction job he was working. According to the probable cause affidavit, Hayworth said there was no reason to pull him over because he knew he used his turn signal.
Downing advised him that he did not.
After running his license and plate, Downing found his license was suspended and that he had an arrest warrant out of Monroe County.
He was then arrested. During a search of his vehicle, Downing found multiple glass pipes and multiple containers and baggies, all containing a crystal substance she believed to be methamphetamine.
Hayworth was transported to the Brown County jail. He was charged Nov. 3 with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; driving while suspended, a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, Class C misdemeanor.
Kokomo man faces nonsupport charges
A Kokomo man has been charged with two Level 6 felonies for not paying child support.
Michael Robison, 48, had not made payments from November of 2016 to February of 2018 and from November 2018 to October 2021, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The unpaid amount between 2016 and 2018 was $3,738.24 and $3,568.31 from 2018 to 2021.
The total amount of child support owed in Brown County was $29,911.06 as of Oct. 25 this year.
Robison was court ordered to pay child support in April of 2004.
He was charged with the two felonies on Oct. 27.
Traffic stop leads to drug charges
A Bloomington man has been charged with a felony for possessing methamphetamine and two other misdemeanors following a traffic stop earlier this month.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholson Briles was driving on State Road 46 East on Nov. 1 when he observed a vehicle traveling westbound at 63 mph in a 50 mph zone.
He initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, identified as 31-year-old Derrick Burge. Burge said he had recently purchased the vehicle and did not have the registration.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Briles noticed a prescription pill bottle in the backseat, which did not belong to Burge. Burge said that it was incorrectly given to him by a rehab facility.
Burge said he had been to rehab in Henryville and had been living at a rehab home in Bloomington. Briles also found open containers of Narcan and other prescriptions in the vehicle, which did belong to Burge.
After running his license, Briles found that Burge’s license was suspended.
He then searched his vehicle prior to it being towed from the scene. During the search Briles reported finding a burnt straw and small plastic baggie containing what officers believed to be heroin.
Burge told police he had been taking steps to get sober and had been sober for approximately 40 days.
Burge was transported to the Brown County jail.
He was formally charged on Nov. 2 with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; and driving while suspended, Class A misdemeanor.
Seymour man faces Level 5 felony
A man from Seymour has been charged with a Level 5 felony for not paying over $25,000 in child support.
According to a probable cause affidavit, 46-year-old Aaron Wheeler had not made any child support payments from November of 2016 through October of 2021.
Wheeler was ordered to pay uninterrupted support in Brown County since August of 2006.
The amount due was $25,284, according to the affidavit.
