Vacant home destroyed by fire
MORGANTOWN — A vacant home on Spearsville Road was destroyed in a fire on Sunday, Nov. 28 after callers reported seeing flames.
Fruitdale Volunteer, Jackson Township Volunteer, Hamblen Township Volunteer fire departments responded to the 8300 block along with deputies with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department and Ambulance 231.
Firefighters and emergency personnel arrived on scene around 1:30 p.m. after dispatch was alerted by multiple passerbys of flames coming from a home.
The structure was vacant with a small amount of objects and items inside, Hamblen Capt. Justin Griffith said.
There were no injuries.
County man faces multiple felonies for shooting at home
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
A 39-year-old Brown County man has been charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after police say he shot at a home on Oak Ridge Road multiple times then fled from the scene on a motorcycle after a deputy arrived.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholson Briles responded to a report of gun shots in the area of the 6900 block of Oak Ridge Road on Nov. 7.
Dispatch reported receiving multiple 911 calls regarding someone shooting in the area and riding away on a motorcycle. A homeowner also called 911 and said she was not home, but that the residents at the house told her someone had driven up the driveway on a motorcycle and shot up the house.
As Briles approached the 6900 block he heard a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot and noticed a motorcycle directly in front of the home that had reportedly been shot up. The motorcycle then drove north past Briles at a high rate of speed, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Briles pursued the vehicle on Three Story Hill Road and Ritter Road until the motorcycle crashed in the 8000 block of Ritter Road.
After exiting his police vehicle, Briles pointed his gun at the driver, Jamie Rund. Rund told Briles the motorcycle was on top of his leg and denied having a gun with him, the affidavit states.
Rund told Briles that “gangsters” were trying to kill him and that people had been shooting at him that night. Briles checked one of Rund’s pants pockets and found a 30 round magazine for an AR style weapon that was full. Rund said he did not realize he had the magazine with him, the affidavit states.
Rund continued to deny ever having a gun or shooting off any rounds. Briles reported smelling alcohol on Rund while speaking to him, that his eyes were red and glossy and that his speech was slightly slurred. Rund told Briles he had “drank too much” to be driving.
While speaking with Briles and Sgt. Chad Williams, Rund said he did speak with the person who lived at the home that had been shot at, but denied going in the driveway at the home. Rund said a man in the home had shot at him and he left on his motorcycle, but that he did travel by the house again and was shot at again, according to the affidavit.
Rund was then arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He refused to take a breath test or consent to a blood test, but a warrant was later granted for Rund’s blood test results.
As he was being placed in Briles’ police vehicle, he refused to move and had to be forced into the vehicle. Once in the vehicle, Rund continued to grab at his waistband, so Briles searched him again and he refused to sit back down in the police vehicle afterwards. Rund was then placed in another police vehicle that had a cage due to his resistance and comments he made about escaping police, according to the affidavit.
He was then transported to the Brown County jail and later to Columbus Regional Hospital for a blood draw where he continued to be combative. He resisted nurses and police there as the blood test was done. He had to be placed in a constraint chair at the hospital.
Following the test, Rund refused any further medical treatment and was transported back to the jail.
While on the way back to the jail, officers still investigating the shooting reported finding a gun on the side of Ritter Road. Four spent shell casings were also found outside of the home on Oak Ridge Road that had been shot up, the affidavit states.
Rund continued to deny ever having a gun. Williams reported that the gun found on Ritter Road had four missing shell casings.
On Nov. 8, Rund was formally charged with intimidation, Level 5 felony; criminal recklessness, Level 5 felony; resisting law enforcement, Level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, Class A misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated — endangering a person, Class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Class C misdemeanor.
Police: Teen facing pair of battery counts
An 18-year-old faces two felonies for domestic battery and intimidation after police responded to a report of a fight on Homestead Road earlier this fall.
Sgt. Chad Williams with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department responded to the call along with Deputy William Pool and Nashville Police Patrolmen Lindsey Downing and Cody Poynter on Sept. 15.
When Williams arrived at the scene, Landon Wagler, of Brown County, was sitting handcuffed on the ground surrounded by the three officers. Wagler was yelling and swearing at the officers, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A man was also standing close by and Williams reported he had blood running down the right side of his face. He had a small cut under his right eye. Another man at the house had a torn shirt on and a red mark on the front of his neck.
One of the men told police that Wagler was trying to leave the house in a vehicle and he did not have a driver’s license. A fight then began when the man who police reported had a torn shirt tried to stop Wagler. The man with the bloody face then tried to break up the fight and that is when he was hit in the face by Wagler, the affidavit states.
Wagler told police he did not know what happened and that he “blacked out.”
Wagler was formally charged with domestic battery, Level 6 felony, and intimidation, Level 6 felony.
His domestic battery charge was elevated to a Level 6 felony due to Wagler being previously convicted of domestic battery in June of this year.
