General Bryant Dunaway Elected to Lead District Attorneys

September 11, 2019
By:

District Attorney General Bryant C. Dunaway was recently elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference.  In this role, General Dunaway will be directly involved in guiding the overall administration of justice in Tennessee.

“My commitment to the citizens of the 13^th Judicial District is first and foremost to seek justice,” said General Dunaway.  “The work of a prosecutor is often difficult but we continue to meet the challenges, whether standing up for victims of crime, exploring alternative sentences in appropriate cases, or demanding strong punishment for violent criminals,”

General Dunaway, as a member of the Tennessee District Attorneys Conference Executive Committee, will have oversight of the Conference administration including budgeting, accounting, payroll, personnel and property management for all District Attorneys’ offices throughout the state as well as training for all personnel statewide.

“General Dunaway’s experience and common-sense approach to prosecution are valuable assets in coordinating efforts of all District Attorneys General throughout the state,” said Executive Director Jerry N. Estes. “We are fortunate to have leaders like Bryant Dunaway who are forward-thinking and committed to developing innovative solutions to difficult problems.”

As District Attorney for the 13^th Judicial District, General Dunaway is the chief law enforcement official in the district that includes Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White Counties.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of both the 13^th Judicial District Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force and the Upper Cumberland Family Justice Center.  He is a State of Tennessee Firearms Instructor.

General Dunaway was elected by the voters of the 13^th Judicial District in 2014.  He is a graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Academy, Tennessee Tech University, and the Nashville School of Law.  Prior to practicing law he worked as a police officer for the City of Cookeville.  Prior to his election, he was engaged in the private practice of law.

Bryant is the father of twin daughters, Katie and Julianne and a son, Grant. He and his wife, LeeAnn, make their home in Cookeville.

September 10, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A fugitive who led local officers on a pursuit before crashing his car on Puckett’s Point Road and fleeing the scene on foot with his son in February was sentenced Monday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

34 year old George Forest Brown entered a plea to reckless endangerment and evading arrest and received a two year sentence in each case to run concurrently. He is to serve the term in the Tennessee Department of Correction but was given jail credit from February 17 to September 9. Two other charges against him for aggravated burglary and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon were dismissed.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said Brown was found in a lake home on Happy Trails Lane off Puckett’s Point Road Sunday night, February 17. His son Chase Brown, believed to be 10 years old, was with him.

According to Sheriff Ray, Brown had broken into the residence after discovering the owners were not at home. As officers were conducting a door to door search in the Ponder Road and Puckett’s Point Road area, a deputy and THP trooper spotted a window broken out in the home where Brown was hiding.

Officers made entry but Brown hemmed himself in a bedroom with his son and refused to come out making verbal threats toward the officers. But he eventually gave himself up without incident and was taken into custody. He had on him a large knife.

Brown was taken by deputies to the emergency room of the hospital to be checked out before being transported to the jail for booking. Brown’s son was taken to the hospital by DeKalb EMS for examination.

Brown was wanted in Hillsdale, Michigan for a pursuit there the previous week in which he fired shots at Michigan officers

Brown and his son disappeared into the woods off Puckett’s Point Road after the crash.  A tracking dog from the Smith County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit was used to assist officers in the search. Sheriff Ray said the dog picked up a scent and came upon some items in the woods which officers believe Brown discarded. The dog lost the scent near the lake.

Sheriff Ray had requested the Tennessee Highway Patrol send a helicopter but an aerial search could not be done due to the weather.

The car that Brown was driving and crashed is a light blue Mercury Marquis with a Michigan tag that does not belong to this car. The vehicle identification (VIN) number is registered to another individual in Indiana.

Reverse 911 calls were placed to residents in the area of Puckett’s Point Road and Ponder Road warning them to keep the doors to their homes and automobiles locked and to report any sighting or suspicious activity.

According to Sheriff Ray, the story began to unfold at 12:23 p.m. on February 17 when a resident on Shoreline Drive off Coconut Ridge Road reported that a man (Brown), acting suspiciously, had come to his door saying he got his car stuck on a walking trail at Shoreline Drive and needed help getting out. While deputies were enroute the caller assisted the man in pulling his car out of the mud and back onto the road. The caller said the man had a bowie knife on him at that time. Although a knife was found at the crash site, officers didn’t know for sure if it was the same one the suspect had on him earlier.

When the deputies spotted Brown’s car near the intersection of Coconut Ridge Road and Savannah Drive, they noticed that it was swerving on the road at 20-30 miles per hour. After pulling the car over, Brown drove off before officers could confront him. They initiated a pursuit from Coconut Ridge Road to Allen Street and then to the end of Big Hurricane Road when Brown turned his car around the tried to ram it into the deputies cars. Brown then led officers on a pursuit from Big Hurricane Road onto Cookeville Highway and then Ponder Road where he crashed his car through an iron gate at the end of the road. Brown again turned around and tried to ram his car into the deputies cruisers before leading them down Ponder Road back to Cookeville Highway. Troopers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol were waiting at the scenic overlook on Highway 56 after dispatch reported that the suspect was spotted heading in their direction.

Instead, Brown turned onto Puckett’s Point Road and county officers continued to follow until Brown’s car went off the road at around 1:10 p.m.. Brown and his son then abandoned the car and fled on foot into the woods. The state troopers who had been at the scenic overlook arrived to investigate the crash and to assist county officers at the scene.

September 10, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The American Legion and Ladies’ Auxiliary is turning 100 this month and the local Post #122 will mark the observance on Thursday, September 26.

Everyone is invited to the celebration from 3-6 p.m. that day at Greenbrook Park with a meet and greet. Fingerfoods, drinks, and desserts will be served and while you are there inquire about becoming a member

The American Legion came to life in Paris, France in 1919 by soldiers restlessly awaiting passage home after victory in WWI. In the months that followed the armistice of November 11, 1918, they had time to think about life after the war and what they might do…

In support of their wounded comrades.

In honor of the fallen.

To help surviving spouses and orphans.

To protect the democracy they pledged their lives to defend.

And to chart a new course for future generations of Americans.

These troops envisioned a different kind of veteran’s association that would be like none before it, or any that would follow. The American Legion would be built on strengthening the nation—not serving themselves– through four primary pillars of volunteer work on behalf of: veterans, defense, youth, and Americanism.

The American Legion sponsors the following activities in several parts of the country: Speech contests, Mock government camps for high school juniors, and youth baseball programs. The American Legion would press for education, literacy, and understanding of U.S. Democracy.

The American Legion elevated public appreciation for the U.S. Flag, the Constitution, law enfocement, faith, civic responsibility, and community service. Women veterans were members and leaders of  the American Legion, for instance, before they had the right to vote for President of the United States.

The  American Legion was responsible for the formation of the Veteran’s Administration in 1930 and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in 1989. The GI Bill , steered to passage by the American Legion, made it possible for higher education, home ownership, and gainful employment.

Two other programs started by the American Legion and Ladies’ Auxiliary are Boys and Girls State and the American Legion’s National Emergency Fund. Girls and Boys State which started in 1937 gives high school Juniors the opportunity to experience how a mock government works. The National Emergency Fund has disbursed tens of millions of dollars to disaster victims since its creation in 1989.