DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day October 26

October 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Many people will be cleaning out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, out of date, or no longer needed prescriptions and bringing them to the Smithville and Alexandria city halls for disposal Saturday, October 26 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. during the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Lisa Cripps, local Coordinator of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition, said 65.2 pounds of prescription drugs and controlled substances were collected for disposal during the spring event in April at Smithville and Alexandria.

That event was sponsored by the DeKalb Prevention Coalition and supported by the DeKalb County Health Department, DeKalb County Coordinated School Health, and local law enforcement officers and constables.

“Take-Back Days in April and October each year are a safe and easy way to protect your loved ones and to get these drugs out of your home,” said Cripps.

“The reason we do this is because we have found when we work with recovery groups is that a lot of their abuse of medications started from them taking it out of their grandparents’ house or their own medicine cabinets,” said Cripps.

“We advocate Count It, Lock It, Drop It. Count your medications and keep them locked up. You can come by the coalition office at the county complex and pick up a lock box. They are free. You can lock up your medications in these lock boxes,” added Cripps.

“Remember that if your medications are unused, out of date or unwanted you can drop them off in one of our local drop boxes. If you miss the take-back event on Saturday, October 26,  the county has drop boxes at the City Hall in Alexandria and City Hall in Smithville that are open Monday through Friday each week,” said Cripps.

October 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A man who tried to outrun the law in an automobile and on foot to avoid being arrested has been charged with two counts of evading.

40 year old James Ricky Ashford, Jr of Delong Road, Smithville is under a $10,000 bond for evading arrest in a motor vehicle and evading arrest on foot. He will make a court appearance on the charges October 31.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on October 5 a deputy spotted Ashford getting into a vehicle at Walmart. Ashford was known to have an active warrant against him for his arrest. The officer activated his blue lights and exited the patrol car to approach Ashford’s vehicle. He ordered Ashford to step out of the automobile but instead Ashford drove away. The officer pursued Ashford onto the roadway until he (Ashford) crashed and then fled on foot. Ashford was taken into custody and charged in the case.

October 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A 42 year old Smithville man is facing felony burglary and theft charges after he was caught breaking into a residence by the homeowner last week. The man had earlier the same day broken into another residence and the office of a nursery.

Byron Ray Wilson is charged with burglary and theft of property over $1,000 along with two counts of aggravated burglary. His bond totals $57,500 and he will make a court appearance December 5.

Police were called Monday, October 7 to a residence on Joe Tittsworth Road and upon arrival spoke with the homeowner who reported that he awoke from sleep to find an unknown man in his bedroom. After chasing the man out of his house the homeowner returned to his room and noticed that his girlfriend’s jewelry including several gold necklaces and a gold oval ring valued at $2,000 had been stolen along with a pair of camo hunting boots and a Bluetooth headset.

Another burglary was reported the same day at a nursery on South Congress Boulevard. Police responded and observed that someone had kicked in the back door of the main office and went through the desk drawers. The only thing  reported missing by the owner was a camo jacket that belonged to an employee and a set of keys on a lanyard.

Later while searching the area an officer saw a man peering out of an open garage at a residence on Meadowbrook Drive and stopped to talk with him but when he walked up to the garage the man was not there. The officer then noticed a door in the garage leading to the house and suspected the man had gone into the residence. Seconds later the door opened and the homeowner emerged to report that he had caught the intruder (Wilson) by grabbing him around the neck and throwing him out of his house. The officer took Wilson into custody at the scene and upon a search found Wilson with the homeowner’s work badge in his pocket. Wilson was also wearing the camo jacket and he had the lanyard of keys from the nursery around his neck. He was also wearing the hunting boots and Bluetooth head set taken from the burglary on Joe Tittsworth Road.