Three Indicted for Aggravated Robbery of Liberty State Bank

April 4, 2011

by: 

Dwayne Page

Three people believed to have been involved in the robbery of Liberty State Bank at Liberty last August have been indicted by the DeKalb County Grand Jury.

38 year old Craig Hill, 45 year old Ricky Estes, and 26 year old Roxanna Landis all of Smithville have each been indicted on the charge of aggravated robbery.

All three will appear for arraignment in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday, April 11th at 9:00 a.m.

Hill, who is accused of actually committing the robbery in which $6,000 was taken, turned himself in at the DeKalb County Jail on Saturday, August 14th, eleven days after the robbery on Tuesday, August 3rd.

Estes and Landis were arrested on August 20th.

After Hill's arrest, Sheriff Patrick Ray said that "On August 3rd, through an investigation into the robbery, Hill was identified through (bank surveillance) video tapes and other investigative tools to be the person responsible for the robbery. Lawmen had been searching for Hill ever since. Hill, who had been living out of town since this incident, came to the DeKalb County Jail to turn himself in on a violation of probation warrant. While there, he was questioned by Sheriff's Department Detectives about the robbery and admitted his involvement in the robbery of Liberty State Bank".

The warrant for his arrest alleged that "On or about the 3rd day of August 2010, Craig Anthony Hill did enter the Liberty State Bank in Liberty Tennessee presenting the teller with a note stating "Give me the money in 20's and 100's, I have a gun" thus putting the teller in fear of her life. The teller at that point took the cash from her drawer and gave it to Craig Hill as instructed. The amount of money taken during the robbery was in excess of $6,000."

According to Sheriff Ray, Estes "aided in the robbery of Liberty State Bank by being involved in the planning of the robbery and driving the get away car. He also shared in the proceeds from the robbery."

Sheriff Ray added that Landis "aided by being involved in the planning of the robbery, freely leaving in the get away vehicle, and sharing in the proceeds of the robbery".

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Another Round of Storms Cause Property Damage in DeKalb County

April 4, 2011

by: 

Dwayne Page

Just twelve days after fierce winds from a severe thunderstorm dipped down in Alexandria causing property damage, DeKalb County was hammered again by another round of storms Monday afternoon with the Jefferson and Keltonburg communities taking the hardest blows this time.

Charlie Parker, DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator, said high winds uprooted trees, blew off shingles, metal roofing and guttering from homes, and ripped off tin from barn roof tops and outbuildings. One of the worst hit areas was at the residence of Woody and Carolyn Adcock on Jefferson Road where a free standing garage behind the house collapsed onto the vehicles parked inside.

Parker said the damage from this storm appeared to have been caused from straight line winds. "We had reports of a possible tornado in the Jefferson area but it appeared to be straight line winds and very high gusts of winds. There was some very strong winds with it. The winds blew over and broke several trees and limbs. There was some damage around Creek Road in the Keltonburg community and back down on Jefferson Road. I have a list of about ten different locations that had some damage to either the barn, outbuilding, or to the roof of the house. Most of the damage was minor to moderate. No houses were destroyed and there were no reports of any injuries. There were some power lines down and tree limbs across them and some residents were without power for a while because of it."

Parker added that heavy rains during the storm also caused a few problems in the Smithville area. "There was a tremendous amount of rain with this system and a lot of standing, puddling water. It was hard to drive in during that time and some motorists said they felt like they were floating because there was so much water out there. No major flooding was reported and no one had to be evacuated. It was primarily on roadways and areas that typically have problems with high water like West Main Street."

Crews from Caney Fork Electric Cooperative and DTC Communications were called out to repair lines and restore service to those affected by the storms.

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